FIGHTING 
PEACE 


HENFy  VAN  DYKE 


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BY  HENRY  VAN    DYKE 

Fighting  for  Peace 
The  Unknown  Quantity 
The  Ruling  Passion 
The  Blue  Flower 


Out-of-Doors  in  the  Holy  Land 
Days  Off 

Little  Rivers 
Fisherman's  Luck 


Poems,  Collection  in  one  volume 


The  Red  Flower 

The  Grand  Canyon,  and  Other  Poema 

The  White  Bees,  and  Other  Poems 

The  Builders,  and  Other  Poems 

Music,  and  Other  Poems 

The  Toiling  of  Felix,  and  Other  Poems 

The  House  of  Rimmon 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 


FIGHTING 
FOR 

PEACE 


BY 

HENRY  VAN  DYKE 

D.C.L.    (OXFORD) 
BECBNTLT  XmiTED  STATES  MINISTEB  TO  HOIiLAND 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

1917 


Copyright,  1917,  by  Charles  Scrihner's  Sons 
Published  November,  1917 


>. 


College 
Librarj 


CONTENTS     \jXii 


CHIPTEB  PAGE 

Foreword 8 

I.     Fair- Weather  and  Storm  Signs      ...  9 

n.     Apologue 49 

in.     The  Werwolf  at  Large 59 

IV.     Germania  Mendax 107 

V.     A  Dialogue  on  Peace  between  a  House- 
holder AND  A  Burglar 139 

VI.     Stand  Fast,  Ye  Free  ! 149 

VII.     Pax  Humana 213 


1CGJ4C!. 


FIGHTING   FOR   PEACE 


FOREWORD 
This  brief  series  of  chapters  is  not  a  tale 

"Of  moving  accidents  by  flood  and  field, 
Of  hair-breadth  'scapes  i'  the  imminent  deadly 
breach." 

Some  dangers  I  have  passed  through  during 
the  last  three  years,  but  nothing  to  speak 
of. 

Nor  is  it  a  romance  in  the  style  of  those 
thrilling  novels  of  secret  diplomacy  which 
I  peruse  with  wonder  and  delight  in  hours 
of  relaxation,  chiefly  because  they  move 
about  in  worlds  regarding  which  I  have  no 
experience  and  little  faith. 

There  is  nothing  secret  or  mysterious 
about  the  American  diplomatic  service,  so 
far  as  I  have  known  it.  Of  course  there  are 
times  when,  like  every  other  honestly  and 
properly  conducted  affair,  it  does  not  seek 
publicity  in  the  newspapers.  That,  I  should 
131 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

suppose,  must  always  be  a  fundamental 
condition  of  frank  and  free  conversation 
between  governments  as  between  gentle- 
men. There  is  a  certain  kind  of  resen'^e 
which  is  essential  to  candor. 

But  American  diplomacy  has  no  pictur- 
esque meetings  at  midnight  in  the  gloom 
of  lonely  forests;  no  confabulations  in 
black  cellars  with  bands  of  hireling  des- 
peradoes waiting  to  carry  out  its  decrees; 
no  disguises,  no  masks,  no  dark  lanterns — 
nothing  half  so  exciting  and  melodramatic. 
On  the  contrary,  it  is  amazingly  plain  and 
straightforward,  with  plenty  of  hard  work, 
but  always  open  and  aboveboard.  That  is 
the  rule  for  the  diplomatic  service  of  the 
United  States. 

Its  chief  and  constant  aims  are  known  to 
all  men.  First,  to  maintain  American  prin- 
ciples and  interests,  and  to  get  a  fair  show- 
ing for  them  in  the  world.  Second,  to  pre- 
serve and  advance  friendly  relations  and 
intercourse  with  the  particular  nation  to 
which  the  diplomat  is  sent.  Third,  to  pro- 

[4] 


FOREWORD 

mote  a  just  and  firm  and  free  peace  through- 
out the  world,  so  that  democracy  every- 
where may  hve  without  fear. 
It  was  the  last  of  these  three  aims  that 
acted  as  the  main  motive  in  my  accept- 
ance of  President  Wilson's  invitation  to  go 
out  as  American  Minister  to  the  Nether- 
lands and  Luxembourg  in  the  summer  of 
1913.  It  was  pleasant,  of  course,  to  return 
for  a  while  to  the  land  from  which  my  an- 
cestors came  so  long  ago.  It  seemed  also 
that  some  useful  and  interesting  work  might 
be  done  to  forward  the  common  interests 
and  ideals  of  the  United  States  and  the 
Netherlands — ^that  brave,  liberty-loving  na- 
tion from  which  our  country  learned  and 
received  so  much  in  its  beginnings — ^and  in 
particular  that  there  might  be  opportunity 
for  co-operation  in  the  Far  East,  where 
the  Dutch  East  Indies  and  the  Philippines 
are  next-door  neighbors.  But  the  chief 
thing  that  drew  me  to  Holland  was  the 
desire  to  promote  the  great  work  of  peace 
which  had  been  begun  by  the  International 

[5] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

Peace  Conferences  at  The  Hague.  This 
indeed  was  what  the  President  especially 
charged  me  to  do. 
Two  conferences  had  already  been  held 
and  had  accomplished  much.  But  their 
work  was  incomplete.  It  lacked  firm  at- 
tachments and  sanctions.  It  was  left  to  a 
certain  extent  "hanging  in  the  air."  It 
needed  just  those  things  which  the  American 
delegates  to  the  Conference  of  1907  had 
advocated — the  establishment  of  a  Perma- 
nent Court  of  Arbitral  Justice;  an  Inter- 
national Prize  Court;  an  agreement  for  the 
protection  of  private  property  at  sea  in 
time  of  war;  the  further  study  and  discus- 
sion of  the  question  of  the  reduction  of 
armaments  by  the  nations;  and  so  on. 
Most  of  these  were  the  things  of  which 
Germany  had  hitherto  prevented  the  at- 
tainment. A  third  International  Peace  Con- 
ference was  necessary  to  secure  and  carry 
on  the  work  of  the  first  two.  The  President 
told  me  to  do  all  that  I  properly  could  to 
forward  the  assembling  of  that  conference 

[6] 


FOREWORD 

in  the  Palace  of  Peace  at  the  earhest  pos- 
sible date. 

So  I  went  to  Holland  as  an  envoy  of  the 
world-peace  founded  on  justice  which  is 
America's  great  desire.  For  that  cause  I 
worked  and  strove.  Of  that  cause  I  am  still 
a  devoted  follower  and  servant.  I  am  work- 
ing for  it  now,  but  with  a  difference.  It 
is  evident  that  we  cannot  maintain  that 
cause,  as  the  world  stands  to-day,  without 
fighting  for  it.  And  after  it  is  won,  it  will 
need  protection.  It  must  be  Peace  with 
Righteousness  and  Power. 

The  following  chapters  narrate  some  of 
the  experiences — things  seen  and  heard 
and  studied  during  my  years  of  service 
abroad — ^which  have  forced  me  to  this 
conclusion.  To  the  articles  which  were 
published  in  Scribner's  Magazine  for  Sep- 
tember, October,  and  November,  1917,  I 
have  added  two  short  chapters  on  the 
cause  of  the  war  and  the  kind  of  peace 
America  is  fighting  for. 

The  third  peace  conference  is  more  needed, 

[7] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

more  desirable,  than  ever.  But  we  shall 
never  get  it  until  the  military  forces  of  Ger- 
many are  broken,  and  the  predatory  Pots- 
dam gang  which  rules  them  is  brought  low. 


[8] 


I 

FAIR-WEATHER  AND  STORM  SIGNS 


FAIR-WEATHER  AND  STORM 
SIGNS 


It  takes  a  New  England  farmer  to  note 
and  interpret  the  signs  of  coming  storm  on 
a  beautiful  and  sunny  day.  Perhaps  his 
power  is  due  in  part  to  natural  sharpness, 
and  in  part  to  the  innate  pessimism  of  the 
Yankee  mind,  which  considers  the  fact 
that  the  hay  is  cut  but  not  yet  in  the  bam 
a  suflficient  reason  for  believing  that  "it'll 
prob'ly  rain  tomorrow." 

I  must  confess  that  I  had  not  enough  of 
either  of  these  qualities  to  be  observant 
and  fearful  of  the  presages  of  the  oncoming 
tempest  which  lurked  in  the  beautiful 
autumn  and  winter  of  1913-14  in  Europe. 
Looking  back  at  them  now,  I  can  see  that 
the  signs  were  ominous.  But  anybody  can 
be  wise  after  the  event,  and  the  role  of  a 
[11] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

reminiscent  prophet  is  too  easy  to  be  worth 
playing. 

Certainly  all  was  bright  and  tranquil 
when  we  rolled  through  the  pleasant  land 
of  France  and  the  rich  cities  of  Belgium, 
and  came  by  ship-thronged  Rotterdam  to 
The  Hague  in  the  first  week  of  October, 
1913.  Holland  was  at  her  autumnal  best. 
Wide  pastures  wonderfully  green  were  full 
of  drowsy,  contented  cattle.  The  level 
brown  fields  and  gardens  were  smoothly 
ploughed  and  harrowed  for  next  year's 
harvest,  and  the  vast  tulip-beds  were  ready 
to  receive  the  little  gray  bulbs  which  would 
overflow  April  with  a  flood-tide  of  flowers. 
On  the  broad  canals  innumerable  barges 
and  sloops  and  motor-boats  were  leisurely 
passing,  and  on  the  little  side-canals  and 
ditches  which  drained  the  fields  the  duck- 
weed spread  its  pale-emerald  carpet  undis- 
turbed. In  the  woods — the  tall  woods  of 
Holland — the  elms  and  the  lindens  were 
putting  on  frosted  gold,  and  the  massy 
beeches  glowed  with  ruddy  bronze  in  the 

[12] 


FAm-WEATHER  AND  STORM  SIGNS 

sunlight.  The  quaint  towns  and  villages 
looked  at  themselves  in  the  waters  at  their 
feet  and  were  content.  Slowly  the  long  arms 
of  the  windmills  turned  in  the  suave  and 
shimmering  air.  Everybody,  in  city  and 
country,  seemed  to  be  busy  without  haste. 
And  overhead,  the  luminous  cloud  moun- 
tains— the  poor  man's  Alps — marched  plac- 
idly with  the  wind  from  horizon  to  horizon. 
The  Hague — that  "largest  village  in  Eu- 
rope," that  city  of  three  hundred  thousand 
inhabitants  set  in  the  midst  of  a  park,  that 
seat  of  government  which  does  not  dare  to 
call  itself  the  capital  because  Amsterdam 
is  jealous — was  in  especially  good  form  and 
humor,  looking  forward  to  a  winter  of  un- 
hurried gayety  and  feasting  such  as  the 
Hollanders  love.  The  new  Palace  of  Peace, 
given  by  Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie  for  the  use 
of  the  Permanent  Court  of  Arbitration  and 
its  auxiliary  bodies,  had  been  opened  with 
much  ceremony  in  September.  Situated 
before  the  entrance  of  that  long,  tree- 
embowered  avenue  which  is  called  the  Old 

[131 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

Scheveningen  Road,  the  edifice  has  an 
imposing  exterior  although  a  mixture  of 
architects  in  the  process  of  building  has 
given  it  something  the  look  of  a  glorified 
railway  station.  But  the  interior  is  alto- 
gether dignified  and  splendid,  more  pala- 
tial, in  fact,  than  any  of  the  royal  residences. 
It  is  fined  with  costly  marbles,  rare  Eastern 
woods,  wonderful  Japanese  tapestries,  and 
adorned  with  gifts  from  all  the  nations, 
except  the  United  States,  which  had  prom- 
ised to  give  a  marble  statue  representing 
"Peace  through  Justice,"  to  be  placed  on 
the  central  landing  of  the  great  Stairway 
of  Honor,  the  most  conspicuous  position 
in  the  whole  building.  The  promise  had 
been  standing  for  some  years,  but  not  the 
statue.  One  of  my  first  minor  tasks  at  The 
Hague  was  to  see  to  it  that  active  steps 
were  taken  at  Washington  to  fulfil  this 
promise,  and  to  fill  this  empty  place  which 
waits  for  the  American  sculpture. 
Meantime  the  rich  collection  of  books  on 
international  law  was  being  arranged  and 

[14] 


FAIR-WEATHER  AND  STORM  SIGNS 

classified  in  the  library  under  the  learned 
direction  of  M.  Alberic  Rolin.  The  late 
roses  were  blooming  abundantly  in  the 
broad  gardens  of  the  palace.  Thousands  of 
visitors  were  coming  every  day  to  see  this 
new  wonder  of  the  world,  the  royal  house 
of  "Vrede  door  Recht:' 

Queen  Wilhelmina  was  still  at  her  coun- 
try palace,  Het  Loo,  in  Gelderland.  It  was 
about  the  middle  of  October  that  I  was 
invited  there  to  lunch  and  to  have  my  first 
audience  with  Her  Majesty,  and  to  present 
my  letter  of  credence  as  American  Minister. 

The  journey  of  three  or  four  hours  was 
made  in  company  with  the  Dutch  Minister 
of  Foreign  Ajffairs,  Jonkheer  Loudon,  who 
represented  the  Netherlands  at  Washington 
for  several  years  and  is  an  intelligent  and 
warm  friend  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
Japanese  Minister,  Mr.  Aimaro  Sato,  a 
very  agreeable  gentleman  (and,  by  the  way, 
an  ardent  angler),  who  now  represents 
Japan  at  Washington.  He  talked  a  little, 
and  with  great  good  sense  and  feeling,  of 

[151 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

the  desirability  of  a  better  understanding 
and  closer  relations  between  the  United 
States  and  Japan.  I  Uked  what  he  said  and 
the  way  he  said  it.  But  most  of  our  conver- 
sation on  that  pleasant  journey,  it  must  be 
confessed,  was  personal  and  anecdotic — 
fish-stories  not  excluded. 

The  ceremony  of  presenting  the  letter  of 
credence,  which  I  had  rather  dreaded,  was 
in  fact  quite  simple  and  easy.  I  handed  to 
Her  Majesty  the  commendatory  epistle  of 
the  President  (beginning,  as  usual,  "Great 
and  good  friend'*)  and  made  a  short  speech 
in  English,  according  to  the  regulations. 
The  Queen,  accepting  the  letter,  made  a 
brief  friendly  reply  in  French,  which  is  the 
language  of  the  court,  and  passed  at  once 
into  an  informal  conversation  in  English. 
She  speaks  both  languages  fluently  and  well. 
Her  first  inquiry,  according  to  royal  cus- 
tom, was  about  family  matters;  the  num- 
ber of  the  children;  the  health  of  the  house- 
hold; the  finding  of  a  comfortable  house 
to  live  in  at  The  Hague,  and  so  on.  There 

[16] 


FAIR-WEATHER  AND  STORM  SIGNS 

is  something  very  homely  and  human  in 
the  good  manners  of  a  real  court.  Then  the 
Queen  asked  about  the  Dutch  immigrants 
in  America,  especially  in  recent  times — 
were  they  good  citizens?  I  answered  that 
we  counted  them  among  the  best,  especially 
strong  in  agriculture  and  in  furniture- 
making,  where  I  had  seen  many  of  them 
in  the  famous  shops  of  Grand  Rapids, 
Michigan.  The  Queen  smiled,  and  said  that 
the  Netherlands,  being  a  small  country, 
did  not  want  to  lose  too  many  of  her  good 
people. 

The  impression  left  upon  me  by  this  first 
interview,  and  deepened  by  all  that  fol- 
lowed, was  that  Queen  Wilhelmina  is  a 
woman  admirably  fit  for  her  task.  Her 
natural  shyness  of  temperament  is  some- 
times misinterpreted  as  a  haughty  reserve. 
But  that  is  not  correct.  She  is,  in  fact,  most 
sincere  and  straightforward,  devoted  to  her 
duty  and  very  intelHgent  in  doing  it,  one 
of  the  ablest  and  sanest  crowned  heads 
in  Europe,  an  altogether  good  ruler  for  the 

[17] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

very  democratic  country  of  the  Nether- 
lands. 

We  settled  down  in  the  home  which  I  had 
rented  at  The  Hague.  It  was  a  big,  dignified 
house  on  the  principal  street,  the  Lange 
Voorhout,  which  is  almost  like  a  park,  with 
four  rows  of  trees  down  the  middle.  Our 
house  had  once  been  the  palace  of  the  Duch- 
ess of  Saxe- Weimar,  a  princess  of  the  Orange- 
Nassau  family.  But  it  was  not  at  all  showy, 
only  comfortable  and  large.  This  was  for- 
tunate for  our  country  when  the  rush  of 
fugitive  American  tourists  came  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  war,  for  every  room  on  the 
first  floor,  and  the  biggest  room  on  the 
second  floor,  were  crowded  with  the  work 
that  we  had  to  do  for  them. 

But  during  the  first  winter  everything 
went  smoothly;  there  was  no  hurry  and  no 
crowding.  The  Queen  came  back  to  her 
town  palace.  The  rounds  of  ceremonial 
visits  were  ground  out.  The  Hague  people 
and  our  diplomatic  colleagues  were  most 
cordial  and  friendly.   There  were  dinners 

[18] 


FAm-WEATHER  AND  STORM  SIGNS 

and  dances  and  court  receptions  and  fancy- 
dress  balls — all  of  a  discreet  and  moderate 
joyousness  which  New  York  and  Newport, 
perhaps  even  Chicago  and  Hot  Springs, 
would  have  called  tame  and  rustic.  The 
weather,  for  the  first  time  in  several  years, 
was  clear,  cold,  and  full  of  sunshine.  The 
canals  were  frozen.  Everybody,  from  grand- 
parents to  grandchildren,  including  the 
Crown  Princess  Juliana,  went  on  skates, 
which  greatly  added  to  the  gayety  of  the 
nation. 

At  the  same  time  there  was  plenty  of 
work  to  do.  The  affairs  of  the  legation  had 
to  be  straightened  out;  the  sending  of 
despatches  and  the  carrying  out  of  instruc- 
tions speeded  up;  the  arrangements  for  a 
proposed  international  congress  on  educa- 
tion in  the  autumn  of  1914,  forwarded; 
the  Bryan  treaty  for  a  year  of  investiga- 
tion before  the  beginning  of  hostihties — 
the  so-called  "Stop-Look-Listen"  treaty — 
modified  and  helped  through;  and  the 
thousand  and  one  minor,  unforeseen  jobs 

[19] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

that  fall  on  a  diplomatic  chief  carefully 
attended  to. 

n 

Through  all. this  time  the  barometer  stood 
at  "Set  Fair."  The  new  Dutch  Ministry, 
which  Mr.  Cort  van  der  Linden,  a  wise  and 
eloquent  philosophic  liberal,  had  formed 
on  the  mandate  of  the  Queen,  seemed  to 
have  the  confidence  of  the  Parliament. 
Although  it  had  no  pledged  majority  of 
any  party  or  bloc  behind  it,  the  announce- 
ment of  its  simple  programme  of  "carrying 
out  the  wishes  of  the  majority  of  the  voters 
as  expressed  in  the  last  election,"  met  with 
approval  on  every  side.  The  "Anti-Revolu- 
tionary" Kon  lay  down  with  the  "Christian- 
Historical"  lamb;  the  "Liberal"  bear  and 
the  "Clerical"  cow  fed  together;  and  the 
sucking  "Social-Democrat"  laid  his  hand 
on  the  "Reactionary"  adder's  den.  It  was 
idyllic.  Real  progress  looked  nearly  pos- 
sible. 

The   international  sky  was  clear  except 

[20J 


FAIR-WEATHER  AND  STORM  SIGNS 

for  the  one  big  cloud,  which  had  been  there 
so  long  that  the  world  had  grown  used  to 
it.  The  Great  Powers  kept  up  the  mad  race 
of  armaments,  purchasing  mutual  terror  at 
the  price  of  billions  of  dollars  every  year. 

Now  the  pace  was  quickened,  but  the 
race  remained  the  same,  with  Germany 
still  in  the  lead.  Her  new  army  bill  of  1912 
provided  for  a  peace  strength  of  870,000 
men,  and  a  war  strength  of  5,400,000  men. 
Russia  followed  with  a  bill  raising  the  term 
of  military  service  from  three  to  three  and 
a  half  years;  France  with  a  bill  raising  the 
term  of  service  from  two  to  three  years 
(but  this  was  not  until  in  June,  1913). 
Great  Britain,  with  voluntary  service, 
still  had  a  comparatively  small  army:  in 
size  "contemptible,"  as  Kaiser  Wilhelm 
called  it  later,  but  in  morale  and  spirit  un- 
surpassed. Evidently  the  military  force  of 
Germany,  which  lay  like  a  glittering  sword 
in  her  ruler's  hand,  was  larger,  better  or- 
ganized and  equipped,  than  any  other  in 
the  world. 

1211 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

But  might  it  not  still  be  used  as  a  make- 
weight in  the  scales  of  negotiation  rather 
than  as  a  weapon  of  actual  offense?  Might 
not  the  Kaiser  still  be  pleased  with  his  dra- 
matic role  of  "the  war-lord  who  kept  the 
peace"?  Might  he  not  do  again  as  he  did 
successfully  in  1909,  when  Austria  violated 
the  provisions  of  the  Congress  of  Berlin 
(1878)  by  annexing  Bosnia  and  Herzego- 
vina, and  Germany  protected  the  theft; 
and  with  partial  success  at  Algeciras  in 
1906,  and  after  the  Agadir  incident  in 
1911,  when  Germany  gained  something 
she  wanted  though  less  than  she  claimed? 
Might  he  not  still  be  content  with  show- 
ing and  shaking  the  sword,  without  flesh- 
ing it  in  the  body  of  Europe?  It  seemed 
wiser,  because  safer  for  Germany,  that  the 
Kaiser  should  follow  that  line.  The  me- 
thodical madness  of  a  forced  war  looked 
incredible. 

Thus  all  of  us  who  were  interested  in  the 
continuance  and  solidification  of  the  work 
of  the  peace  conferences  at  The  Hague 

[221 


FAm-WEATHEB  AND  STORM  SIGNS 

reasoned  ourselves  into  a  peaceful  hope. 
We  knew  that  no  other  power  except  Ger- 
many was  really  prepared  for  war.  We  knew 
that  the  effort  to  draw  Great  Britain  into 
an  offensive  and  defensive  alliance  with 
Germany  had  failed,  although  London  was 
wiUing  to  promise  help  to  Berlin  if  attacked. 
We  remembered  Bismarck's  warning  that 
a  war  against  Russia  and  Great  Britain  at 
the  same  time  would  be  fatal,  and  we  trusted 
that  it  had  not  been  forgotten  in  Berlin. 
We  knew  that  Germany,  under  her  policy 
of  industrial  development  and  pacific  pen- 
etration, was  prospering  more  than  ever, 
and  we  thought  she  might  enjoy  that 
enough  to  continue  it.  We  hoped  that  a 
third  peace  conference  would  be  assembled 
before  a  general  conflict  of  arms  could  be 
launched,  and  that  some  things  might  be 
done  there  which  would  make  wilful  and  ag- 
gressive war  vastly  more  dangerous  and  dif- 
ficult, if  not  impossible.  So  we  were  at  ease 
in  Zion  and  worked  in  the  way  which  seemed 
most  promising  for  the  peace  of  the  world. 

[23] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

But  that  way  was  not  included  in  the  Ger- 
man plan.  It  was  remote  from  the  Berlin- 
Baghdad-Bahn.  It  did  not  lead  toward  a 
dominant  imperial  state  of  Mittel-Europa, 
with  tentacles  reaching  out  to  ports  on 
every  sea  and  strait.  The  plan  for  another 
Hague  conference  failed  to  interest  the 
ruling  clique  at  Berlin  and  Potsdam  be- 
cause they  had  made  "other  arrange- 
ments." 

Very  gradually  slight  indications  of  this 
fact  began  to  appear,  though  they  were 
not  clearly  understood  at  the  time.  It  was 
like  watching  a  stage-curtain  which  rises 
very  slowly  a  little  way  and  then  stops. 
Through  the  crack  one  could  see  feet  mov- 
ing about  and  hear  rumbling  noises.  Evi- 
dently a  drama  was  in  preparation.  But 
what  it  was  to  be  could  hardly  be  guessed. 
Then,  after  a  long  wait,  the  curtain  rose 
swiftly.  The  tragedy  was  revealed.  Flames 
burst  forth  from  the  stage  and  wrapped  the 
whole  house  in  fire.  Some  of  the  spectators 
were  the  first  victims.  The  conflagration  still 

[24] 


FAIR-WEATHER  AND  STORM  SIGNS 

rages.  It  will  not  be  put  out  until  the 
flame-lust  is  smothered  in  the  hearts  of 
those  who  kindled  and  spread  the  great 
fire  in  Europe. 

m 

I  must  get  back  from  this  expression  of 
my  present  feelings  and  views  to  the  plain 
story  of  the  experiences  which  gradually 
made  me  aware  of  the  actual  condition  of 
affairs  in  Europe  and  the  great  obstacle 
to  a  durable  peace  in  the  world. 

The  first  thing  that  disquieted  me  a  little 
was  the  strange  difficulty  encountered  in 
making  the  preliminary  arrangements  for 
the  third  peace  conference.  The  final  reso- 
lution of  the  second  conference  in  1907, 
unanimously  recommended,  first,  that  the 
next  conference  should  be  held  within  a 
'period  of  eight  years,  and  second,  that  a 
preparatory  committee  should  be  appointed 
two  years  beforehand,  to  consider  the  sub- 
jects which  were  ripe  for  discussion,  and  to 
draw  up  a  programme  which  could  be  ex- 

[25] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

amined  in  advance  by  the  countries  inter- 
ested. That,  of  course,  was  necessary.  No 
sensible  government  will  go  into  a  con- 
ference blindfold,  without  knowing  what 
is  to  be  talked  about. 

But  in  1914,  when  the  matter  came  into 
my  hands,  the  lapse  of  time  and  the  negli- 
gence of  the  nations  (the  United  States 
included)  had  made  it  too  late  to  fulfil  both 
of  these  recommendations.  If  one  was  car- 
ried out  the  other  must  be  modified  or  dis- 
regarded. The  then  Secretary  of  State,  Mr. 
Bryan,  instructed  me  to  endeavor  to  have 
the  conference  called  in  1915,  that  is,  within 
the  period  of  eight  years.  After  careful  in- 
vestigation and  earnest  eflfort,  I  reported 
that  it  could  not  be  done  at  that  date. 
The  first  thing  was  to  get  the  preparatory 
committee,  which  would  require  at  least 
two  years  for  its  formation  and  work. 
Toward  this  point,  then,  with  the  approval 
of  the  President,  I  steered  and  rowed  hard, 
receiving  the  warmest  sympathy  and  most 
effective  co-operation  from  Jonkheer  Lou- 

[26] 


FAIR-WEATHER  AND  STORM  SIGNS 

don,  the  Netherlands  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs.  Indeed  the  entire  Dutch  Govern- 
ment, with  the  Queen  at  the  head,  were 
favorable.  Holland  naturally  likes  to  have 
the  peace  conferences  at  The  Hague.  They 
add  to  the  dignity  of  the  country.  The 
honor  ia  well-deserved,  for  Holland  may 
fairly  be  called  the  fountainhead  of  mod- 
ern international  law,  and  has  produced 
many  of  its  best  expounders,  from  Grotius 
and  Bynkershoek  to  Asser.  Moreover,  as  a 
side  consideration,  these  meetings  bring  a 
multitude  of  visitors  to  the  country,  some 
famous  and  many  profitable,  and  this  is 
not  bad  for  business.  So  the  movement  is 
generally  popular. 

My  own  particular  suggestion  toward  get- 
ting the  required  "preparatory  committee" 
seemed  to  its  author  to  have  the  double 
advantage  of  practical  speed  and  represen- 
tative quality.  It  was  to  make  use,  at  least 
for  the  first  steps,  of  a  body  already  in 
existence  and  in  which  all  the  nations  were 
represented.  But  there  is  no  need  of  describ- 

[27] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

ing  it,  because  it  did  not  go  through.  I 
was  not  so  much  stuck  upon  it  that  any- 
other  fair  and  speedy  plan  would  not  have 
received  my  hearty  backing. 

But  the  trouble  was  that,  push  as  hard 
as  we  would,  there  was  no  plan  that  would 
move  beyond  a  certain  point.  There  it 
stood  still.  Washington  and  The  Hague 
were  earnest  and  enthusiastic.  St.  Peters- 
burg was  warmly  interested,  but  showed  a 
strong  preference  for  its  own  plan,  and  a 
sense  of  its  right  to  a  leading  place  as  the 
proposer  of  the  first  conference.  London 
and  Paris  seemed  favorable  to  the  general 
idea,  and  took  an  expectant  attitude  toward 
any  proposal  of  organization  that  would 
be  on  the  level  and  fair  for  everybody. 
Berlin  was  singularly  reserved  and  vague. 
It  said  little  or  nothing.  It  did  not  seem  to 
care  about  the  matter. 

I  talked  informally  with  my  German 
friends  at  The  Hague.  They  were  polite 
and  attentive.  They  may  have  had  a  real 
interest   in   the   subject,   but   it   was   not 

[281 


FAIR-WEATHER  AND  STORM  SIGNS 

shown  so  that  you  could  notice  it.  They 
expressed  opinions  on  the  value  of  peace 
conferences  in  general  which  I  am  not  at 
liberty  to  repeat.  The  idea  of  a  third  con- 
ference at  The  Hague  may  have  seemed 
beautiful  to  them,  but  it  looked  as  if  they 
felt  that  it  was  lacking  in  actuality.  Pos- 
sibly I  did  not  understand  them.  That  was 
just  the  trouble — I  could  not.  It  was  all 
puzzling,  baffling,  mysterious. 

It  seemed  as  if  all  our  efforts  to  forward 
the  calling  of  the  next  conference  in  the 
interest  of  permanent  peace  brought  up 
dead  against  an  invisible  barrier,  an  im- 
passable wall  like  the  secret  line  drawn  in 
the  air  by  magic,  thinner  than  a  cobweb, 
more  impenetrable  than  steel.  What  was 
it.''  Indifference.'^  General  scepticism .^^  Pre- 
occupation with  other  designs  which  made 
the  discussion  of  peace  plans  premature 
and  futile?  I  did  not  know.  But  certainly 
there  was  something  in  the  way,  and  the 
undiscovered  nature  of  that  something  was 
food  for  thought. 

[291 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

The  next  jolt  that  was  given  to  my  com- 
fortable hope  that  the  fair  weather  in 
Europe  was  likely  to  last  for  some  time  was 
a  very  shght  incident  that  happened  in 
the  Grand  Duchy  of  Luxembourg,  to  which 
small  sovereign  state  I  was  also  accredited 
as  American  Minister. 

The  existence  and  status  of  Luxembourg 
in  Europe  before  the  war  are  not  universally 
understood  in  America,  and  it  may  be  use- 
ful to  say  a  few  words  about  it.  The  grand 
duchy  is  a  tiny  independent  country,  about 
1,000  square  miles  of  lovely  hills  and  dales 
and  table-lands,  clothed  with  noble  woods, 
watered  by  clear  streams,  and  inhabited  by 
about  250,000  people  of  undoubted  Ger- 
man-Keltic stock  and  of  equally  undoubted 
French  sympathies.  The  land  lies  in  the  form 
of  a  northward-pointing  triangle  between 
Germany,  Belgium,  and  France.  The  sover- 
eign is  the  Grand  Duchess  Marie  Adelheid 
(of  Nassau),  a  beautiful,  sincere,  high-spir- 
ited girl  who  succeeded  to  the  crown  on 
her  father's  death.  The  poHtical  leader 
[301 


FAIR-WEATHER  AND  STORM  SIGNS 

for  twenty-five  years  was  the  Minister-Pres- 
ident Paul  Eyschen,  an  astute  statesman 
and  a  devoted  patriot,  who  nursed  his 
little  country  in  his  arms  like  a  baby  and 
brought  it  to  a  high  degree  of  prosperity 
and  contentment. 
Like  Belgium,  Luxembourg  was  a  neutral- 
ized country — the  former  by  the  Treaty  of 
1831;  the  latter  by  the  Treaty  of  1867; 
both  treaties  were  signed  and  guaranteed 
by  the  Great  Powers.  But  there  was  a  dis- 
tinct difference  between  the  two  neutrali- 
ties. That  of  Belgium  was  an  armed  neu- 
trality; her  forts  and  her  military  forces 
were  left  to  her.  That  of  Luxembourg  was 
a  disarmed  neutrality;  her  only  fortress  was 
dismantled  and  razed  to  the  ground,  and 
her  army  was  reduced  and  limited  to  one 
company  of  gendarmes  and  one  company 
of  infantry.  Thus  Belgium  had  the  right, 
the  duty,  and  the  power  to  resist  if  her 
territory  were  violated  by  the  armed  forces 
of  a  belligerent.  But  Luxembourg  was  made 
powerless  to  resist;  she  could  only  protest. 
[311 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

Remember  this  when  you  consider  the  fates 
which  fell  on  the  two  countries.  Remember 
how  the  proud  and  independent  little 
duchy  must  have  felt  beforehand,  stand- 
ing without  a  weapon  amid  the  mighty 
armed  powers  of  Europe. 
It  was  in  February  or  early  in  March, 
1914,  that  the  Grand  Duchess  sent  out  an 
invitation  to  the  Diplomatic  Corps  to  at- 
tend a  court  function.  We  all  went  gladly 
because  of  the  pleasantness  of  the  land  and 
the  good  hospitality  of  the  palace.  There 
were  separate  audiences  with  Her  Royal 
Highness  in  the  morning,  a  big  luncheon 
given  by  the  Cabinet  and  the  city  authori- 
ties at  noon,  a  state  dinner  in  the  old  Span- 
ish palace  at  night,  and  after  that  a  gala 
concert.  It  was  then  that  the  incident  oc- 
curred. I  had  heard  in  the  town  that  thirty 
military  officers  from  the  German  garrison 
at  Trier,  a  few  miles  away  on  the  border, 
were  coming,  invited  or  self-invited,  to  the 
concert,  and  the  Luxembourgers  did  not 
like  the  idea  at  all.  Well,  the  Germans  came 

[32] 


FAIR-WEATHER  AND  STORM  SIGNS 

in  a  body,  some  of  them  courteous  and 
affable,  the  others  stiff,  wooden,  high- 
chinned,  and  staring — distinctly  a  foreign 
group.  They  were  tactless  enough  to  pro- 
pose staying  over  the  next  day.  A  big  crowd 
of  excited  Luxembourgers  filled  the  streets 
in  the  morning  and  gave  every  sign  of  ex- 
treme dissatisfaction.  "What  were  these 
Prussian  soldiers  doing  there  .^^  Had  they 
come  to  spy  out  the  land  and  the  city  in 
preparation  for  an  invasion?  Was  there  a 
stray  prince  or  duke  among  them  who 
wanted  to  marry  the  Grand  Duchess  ?  The 
music  was  over.  These  Kriegs-Herren  had 
better  go  home  at  once — at  once,  did  they 
understand.'^"  Yes,  they  understood,  and 
they  went  by  the  next  train,  which  took 
them  to  Trier  in  an  hour. 
It  was  a  very  trivial  affair.  But  it  seemed 
to  throw  some  light  on  the  mentality  of  the 
German  army.  It  also  made  me  reflect 
upon  the  state  of  mind  of  this  little  unarmed 
country  living  next  door  to  the  big  military 
machine  and  directly  on  the  open  way  to 

[33] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

France.  Yet  we  all  laughed  and  joked  about 
the  incident  on  the  way  back  to  Holland 
in  the  train.  Only  the  French,  German, 
Italian,  and  Belgian  Ministers  were  not 
with  us,  for  these  countries  have  separate 
missions  in  Luxembourg. 

At  The  Hague  everything  pursued  its 
tranquil  course  as  usual.  Golf  set  in.  The 
tulips  bloomed  in  a  sea  of  splendor.  I  strove 
at  the  footless  task  of  promoting  the  third 
peace  conference.  It  was  not  until  the 
season  of  Pentecost,  1914,  that  I  went  to 
Luxembourg  again,  intending  to  gather 
material  for  a  report  on  the  flourishing 
steel  industry  there,  which  had  developed 
some  new  processes,  and  to  get  a  little 
trout-fishing  on  the  side.  During  that 
pleasant  journey  two  things  happened  which 
opened  my  eyes. 

The  first  was  at  a  luncheon  which  Prime 
Minister  Eyschen  gave  me.  It  was  a  friendly 
foursome:  our  genial  host;  the  German 
Minister,  Von  B.;  the  French  Minister,  M.; 
and  myself.  Mr.  Eyschen's  wine-cellar  was 
[341 


FAIE-WEATHER  AND  STORM  SIGNS 

famous,  and  his  old  Luxembourg  cook  was 
a  wonder;  she  served  a  repast  which  made 
us  linger  at  table  for  three  hours.  The  con- 
versation rambled  everywhere,  and  there 
were  no  chains  or  padlocks  on  it.  It  was  in 
French,  English,  and  German,  but  mostly 
in  French.  One  remark  has  stuck  in  my 
memory  ever  since.  Mr.  Eyschen  said  to 
me:  "You  have  heard  of  the  famous  *Lux- 
embourger  Loch*?  It  is  the  easiest  military 
road  between  Germany  and  France."  Then 
he  continued  with  great  good  humor  to 
the  two  gentlemen  at  the  ends  of  the  table: 
"Perhaps  one  of  your  two  countries  may 
march  an  army  through  it  before  long,  and 
we  certainly  cannot  stop  you."  Then  he 
turned  to  Herr  von  B.,  still  smiling:  "Most 
likely  it  will  be  your  country,  Excellenzl 
But  please  remember,  for  the  last  ten  years 
we  have  made  our  mining  concessions  and 
contracts  so  that  they  will  hold,  whatever 
happens.  And  we  have  spent  the  greatest 
part  of  our  national  income  on  our  roads. 
You  can't  roll  them  up  and  carry  them  oflf 

135] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

in  your  pocket !"  Of  course  we  all  laughed. 
But  it  was  serious.  Two  months  later  the 
French  Minister  had  to  make  a  quick  and 
quiet  flight  along  one  of  those  very  roads. 
A  couple  of  days  after  the  luncheon,  at 
the  beginning  of  June,  I  saw  a  curious 
confirmation  of  Eyschen's  hint.  Having 
gone  just  over  the  German  border  for  a 
bit  of  angling,  I  was  following  a  very  lovely 
little  river  full  of  trout  and  grayling.  With 
me  were  two  or  three  Luxembourgers  and 
as  many  Germans,  to  whom  fishing  with 
the  fly — ^fine  and  far  off — was  a  new  and 
curious  sight.  Along  the  east  bank  of  the 
stream  ran  one  of  the  strategic  railways  of 
Germany,  from  Koln  to  Trier.  All  day  long 
innumerable  trains  rolled  southward  along 
that  line,  and  every  train  was  packed  with 
soldiers  in  field-gray — their  cheerful,  stolid 
bullet-heads  stuck  out  of  all  the  windows. 
"Why  so  many  soldiers,"  I  asked,  "and 
where  are  they  all  going?'*  "Ach!"  replied 
my  German  companions,  "  it  is  Pfingstferien 
(Pentecost  vacation),  and  they  are  sent  a 

[36] 


FAIR-WEATHER  AND  STORM  SIGNS 

changing  of  scene  and  air  to  get."  My  Lux- 
embourg friends  laughed.  "Yes,  yes,"  they 
said.  "That  is  it.  Trier  has  a  splendid  cli- 
mate for  soldiers.  The  situation  js  kolossal 
for  that!" 

When  we  passed  through  the  hot  and 
dusty  little  city  it  was  simply  swarming 
with  the  field-gray  ones — thousands  upon 
thousands  of  them — new  barracks  every- 
where; parks  of  artillery;  mountains  of 
munitions  and  military  stores.  It  was  a 
veritable  base  of  operation,  ready  for  war. 

Now  the  point  is  that  Trier  is  just  seven 
miles  from  Wasserbillig  on  the  Luxembourg 
frontier,  the  place  where  the  armed  Ger- 
man forces  entered  the  neutral  land  on 
August  2,  1914. 

The  government  and  the  "grande  armee" 
of  the  Grand  Duchess  protested.  But — well, 
did  you  ever  see  a  wren  resist  an  eagle? 
The  motor-van  (not  the  private  car  of  Her 
Royal  Highness,  as  rumor  has  said,  but 
just  an  ordinary  panier-a-salade) ,  which 
was  drawn  up  across  the  road  to  the  cap- 

[37] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

ital,  was  rolled  into  the  ditch.  The  mighty 
host  of  invaders,  having  long  been  ready, 
marched  triumphantly  into  the  dismantled 
fortress,  and  along  their  smooth,  unlawful 
way  to  France.  I  had  caught,  in  June, 
angling  along  the  little  river,  a  passing 
glimpse  of  the  preparation  for  that  march. 
But  what  about  things  on  the  French  side 
of  the  border  in  that  same  week  of  June, 
1914?  Well,  I  can  only  tell  what  I  saw. 
RetumiQg  to  Holland  by  way  of  Paris,  I 
saw  no  soldiers  in  the  trains,  only  a  few 
scattered  members  of  the  local  garrisons 
at  the  railway  stations,  not  a  man  in  arms 
within  ten  kilometres  of  the  frontier.  It 
seemed  as  if  France  slept  quietly  at  the 
southern  edge  of  Luxembourg,  believing 
that  the  solemn  treaty,  which  had  made 
Germany  respect  the  neutrality  of  that 
little  land  even  in  the  war  of  1870,  still 
held  good  to  safeguard  her  from  a  treach- 
erous attack  in  the  rear,  through  a  peaceful 
neighbor's  garden.  Longwy — the  poor,  old- 
fashioned  fortress  in  the  northeast  comer 

[38] 


FAIR-WEATHER  AND  STORM  SIGNS 

of  France — ^had  hardly  enough  guns  for  a 
big  rabbit-shoot,  and  hardly  enough  gar- 
rison to  man  the  guns.  The  conquering 
Crown  Prince  afterward  took  it  almost  as 
easily  as  a  boy  steals  an  apple  from  an  un- 
protected orchard.  It  was  the  first  star  in 
his  diadem  of  glory.  But  Verdun,  though 
near  by,  was  not  the  second. 

From  this  little  journey  I  went  home  to 
The  Hague  with  the  clear  conviction  that 
one  nation  in  Europe  was  ready  for  war, 
and  wanted  war,  and  intended  war  on  the 
first  convenient  opportunity.  But  when 
would  that  be.'*  Not  even  the  most  truc- 
ulent government  could  well  venture  a 
bald  declaration  of  hostilities  without  some 
plausible  pretext,  some  ostensible  ground 
of  quarrel.  Where  was  it.f*  There  was  none 
in  sight.  Of  course  the  danger  of  a  homi- 
cidal crisis  in  the  insanity  of  armaments 
was  always  there.  And  of  course  the  ambi- 
tion of  Germany  for  "a  place  in  the  sun" 
was  as  coldly  fierce  as  ever.  The  Pan-Ger- 
manists  were  impatient.   But  they  could 

[39] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

hardly  proclaim  war  without  saying  what 
place  and  wliose  place  they  wanted.  Nor 
was  there  any  particular  grievance  on  which 
they  could  stand  as  a  colorable  ground  of 
armed  conflict.  The  Kaiser  had  prepared 
for  war,  no  doubt.  The  argument  and  justi- 
fication of  war  as  the  means  of  spreading 
the  German  Kultur  were  in  the  Potsdam 
mind.  But  the  concrete  and  definite  occa- 
sion of  war  was  lacking.  How  long  would 
that  lack  hold  off  the  storm.?  Could  the 
precarious  peace  be  maintained  until  mea- 
sures to  enforce  and  protect  it  by  common 
consent  could  be  taken  .'^ 

These  questions  were  answered  with  dread- 
ful suddenness.  The  curtain  which  had  half- 
concealed  the  scene  went  up  with  a  rush, 
and  the  missing  occasion  of  war  was  re- 
vealed in  the  flash  of  a  pistol. 

rv 

On  June  28,  1914,  the  Archduke  Franz 
Ferdinand,  heir  apparent  to  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  crowns,  and  his  wife,  the  Duchess 

[401 


FAIR-WEATHER  AND  STORM  SIGNS 

of  Hohenburg,  were  shot  to  death  in  the 
street  at  Serajevo,  the  capital  of  the  an- 
nexed provinces  of  Bosnia  and  Herzego- 
vina, to  which  they  were  paying  a  visit  of 
ceremony.  The  news  of  this  murder  filled 
all  thoughtful  people  in  Europe  with  horror 
and  dismay.  It  was  a  dark  and  sinister 
crime.  The  Crown  Prince  and  his  wife  had 
not  been  personcB  gratw  with  the  Viennese 
court,  but  the  brutal  manner  of  their 
taking  off  aroused  the  anger  of  the  people. 
Vengeance  was  called  for.  The  two  wretched 
murderers  were  Austrian  subjects,  but  they 
were  Servian  sympathizers,  and  in  some 
kind  of  connection  with  a  society  called 
Narodna  Ohrana,  whose  avowed  object  was 
to  work  for  a  "Greater  Servia,"  including 
the  southern  Slavic  provinces  of  Austria. 
The  Government  of  Austria-Hungary,  hav- 
ing conducted  a  secret  inquiry,  declared 
that  it  had  proofs  that  the  instructions  and 
the  weapons  for  the  crime  came  from  Ser- 
via.  On  the  other  hand,  it  has  not  been 
denied  that  the  Servian  Minister  at  Vienna 

[41] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

had  conveyed  a  warning  to  the  Government 
there,  a  week  before  the  ceremonial  visit 
to  Serajevo,  to  the  effect  that  it  would  be 
wise  to  give  the  visit  up,  as  there  were 
grounds  for  believing  that  an  assassination 
had  been  planned.  We  knew  Uttle  or  noth- 
ing of  all  this  at  the  time,  in  The  Hague. 
Anxiously  we  waited  for  light  under  the 
black  cloud.  It  came  like  lightning  in  the 
Austro-Hungarian  note  to  Servia  of  July 
23,  1914. 

It  was  made  public  the  next  day.  I  re- 
member coming  home  that  evening  from 
a  motor-drive  through  the  dead  cities  of 
the  Zuyder  Zee.  Taking  up  the  newspaper 
in  the  quiet  library,  I  read  the  note.  The 
paper  dropped  from  my  hand,  and  I  said 
to  my  son:  "That  means  an  immense  war. 
God  knows  how  far  it  will  go  and  how  long 
it  will  last." 

This  Austrian  ultimatum  was  so  severe  in 
matter  and  in  manner  as  to  justify  the 
comment  of  Sir  Edward  Grey:  "Never 
have  I  seen  one  state  address  to  another 

[421 


FAIR-WEATHER  AND  STORM  SIGNS 

independent  state  a  document  of  so  for- 
midable a  character.'*  It  not  only  dictated 
a  public  confession  of  guilt;  it  also  made  a 
series  of  ten  sweeping  demands  on  Servia, 
one  of  which  (No.  5)  seemed  to  imply  a 
surrender  of  independent  sovereignty;  and 
it  allowed  only  forty-eight  hours  for  an 
unqualified,  complete  acceptance. 

Russia  promptly  declared  that  she  would 
not  object  to  the  punishment  of  Servians 
for  any  proved  offense,  but  that  she  must 
defend  the  territorial  integrity  and  inde- 
pendence of  Servia.  Italy  and  France_;^sug- 
gested  an  extension  of  time  for  the  answer. 
France  and  Russia  advised  Servia  to  make 
a  general  acceptance  of  the  ultimatum.  She 
did  so  in  her  reply  of  the  25th,  reserving 
demand  No.  5,  which  she  said  she  did  not 
understand,  and  offering  to  submit  that 
point,  or  the  whole  matter,  to  the  tribunal 
at  The  Hague.  Austria  had  instructed  her 
minister  at  Belgrade  to  reject  anything  but 
a  categorical  submission  to  the  ultimatum. 
When   the  Servian  reply  was  handed  to 

[431 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

him  he  said  that  it  was  not  good  enough, 
demanded  his  passports,  and  left  the  capi- 
tal  within  haK  an  hour.  Germany,  vowing 
that  she  had  no  knowledge  of  the  text  of 
the  Austrian  note  before  it  was  presented 
and  had  not  influenced  its  contents  (which 
seems  incredible,  as  I  shall  show  later), 
nevertheless  announced  that  she  approved 
and  would  support  it. 

Verily  this  was  "miching  mallecho,"  as 
Hamlet  says.  It  meant  mischief.  Austria 
was  inflexible  in  her  purpose  to  make  war 
on  Servia.  Russia's  warning  that  in  such  a 
case  she  could  not  stand  aside  and  see  a 
small  kindred  nation  subjugated,  and  her 
appeals  for  arbitration  or  four-power  media- 
tion, which  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Italy 
supported,  were  disregarded.  Behind  Austria 
stood  Germany,  proud,  menacing,  armed 
to  the  teeth,  ready  for  attack,  supporting 
if  not  instigating  the  relentless  Austrian 
purpose.  Something  vast  and  very  evil  was 
impending  over  the  world. 

That  was  our  conviction  at  The  Hague  in 

[44] 


FAIR-WEATHER  AND  STORM  SIGNS 

the  fateful  week  from  July  24  to  August  1, 
1914.  We  who  stood  outside  the  secret 
councils  of  the  Central  Powers  were  both 
bewildered  and  dismayed.  Could  it  be  that 
Europe  of  the  twentieth  century  was  to  be 
thrust  back  into  the  ancient  barbarism  of 
a  general  war  ?  It  was  like  a  dreadful  night- 
mare. There  was  the  head  of  the  huge 
dragon,  crested,  fanged,  clad  in  glittering 
scales,  poised  above  the  world  and  ready 
to  strike.  We  were  benumbed  and  terrified. 
There  was  nothing  that  we  could  do.  The 
monstrous  thing  advanced,  but  even  while 
we  shuddered  we  could  not  make  ourselves 
feel  that  it  was  real.  It  had  the  vagueness 
and  the  horrid  pressure  of  a  bad  dream. 

If  it  seemed  dreamlike  to  us,  so  near  at 
hand,  how  could  the  people  in  America, 
three  thousand  miles  away,  feel  its  reality 
or  grasp  its  meaning?  They  could  not  do 
it  then,  and  many  of  them  have  not  done 
it  yet. 

But  we  who  were  on  the  other  side  of  the 
sea  were  suddenly  and  rudely  awakened 

[45] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

to  know  that  the  bad  dream  was  all  too 
real.  On  July  28  Austria  declared  war  on 
Servia.  On  the  29th  Russia  ordered  a  par- 
tial mobilization  of  troops  on  the  Austrian 
frontier.  On  the  same  night  the  Austrian 
troops  entered  Servia  and  bombarded  Bel- 
grade. On  the  31st  Austria  and  Russia  or- 
dered a  general  mobilization. 

Then  Germany,  already  coiled,  struck. 

On  August  1  Germany  declared  war  on 
Russia.  On  the  2d  Germany  invaded  Lux- 
embourg and  France.  On  the  3d  Germany 
declared  war  on  France.  On  the  4th  Ger- 
many invaded  Belgium,  in  violation  of  her 
solemn  treaty.  On  the  5th  Great  Britain, 
having  given  warning  to  the  Kaiser  that 
she  meant  to  keep  her  promise  to  protect 
the  neutrality  of  Belgium,  severed  diplo- 
matic relations,  and  on  the  6th  Parliament, 
by  a  vote  of  extraordinary  supply,  formally 
accepted  a  state  of  war  with  Germany,  the 
invader. 

So  the  storm  signs,  foreshadowed  in  fair 
weather,  were  fulfilled   in   tempest,   more 

146] 


FAIR-WEATHER  AND  STORM  SIGNS 

vast  and  cruel  than  the  world  had  ever 
known. 

The  Barabbas  of  war  was  preferred  to 
the  Christ  of  righteous  judgment. 

The  hope  of  an  enduring  peace  through 
justice  receded  and  grew  dim.  We  knew 
that  it  could  not  be  rekindled  until  the 
ruthless  military  power  of  Germany,  that 
had  denied  and  rejected  it,  was  defeated 
and  brought  to  repentance. 

Thus  those  who  loved  true  peace — ^peace 
with  equal  security  for  small  and  great 
nations,  peace  with  law  protecting  the  Uber- 
ties  of  the  people,  peace  with  power  to  de- 
fend itself  against  assault — were  forced  to 
fight  for  it  or  give  it  up  forever. 


I47I 


n 

APOLOGUE 


APOLOGUE 

The  man  who  was  also  a  Werwolf  sat  in 
in  his  arbor,  drinking  excellent  beer. 

He  was  not  an  ill-looking  man.  His  fond- 
ness for  an  out-of-door  life  had  given  him 
a  ruddy  color.  He  was  tall  and  blond.  His 
eyes  were  gray.  But  there  was  a  shifty  look 
in  them,  now  dreamy,  now  fierce.  At  times 
they  contracted  to  mere  slits.  His  chin 
sloped  away  to  nothing.  His  legs  were  long 
and  thin,  his  movements  springy  and  un- 
certain. 

The  philosopher  who  came  to  pay  his  re- 
spects to  the  man  who  was  also  a  Werwolf 
(whom  we  shall  henceforth  call  MWAW 
for  short)  was  named  Professor  Schmuck. 
He  was  a  globular  man,  with  protruding 
china-blue  eyes,  much  magnified  by  im- 
mense spectacles.  The  fame  of  his  book  on 
Eschatological  Problems  among  the   Hivites 

[51] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

and  Hittites  was  world-wide.  But  his  real 
specialty  was  universal  knowledge. 

Yet  on  entering  the  arbor  where  MWAW 
was  sitting,  this  world-renowned  Learned 
One  made  three  deep  obeisances,  as  if  he 
were  approaching  an  idol,  and  stammered 
in  a  husky  voice:  "Highly  Exalted! — dare 
I ?" 

"Ah,  our  good  Schmuck!"  said  MWAW, 
turning  in  his  chair  and  recrossing  his  legs. 
"Come  in.  Take  place.  Take  beer.  Take 
breath.  Speak  out." 

The  professor,  thus  graciously  reassured, 
set  forth  his  errand. 

"I  have  come  to  you.  Highly  Exalted, 
to  inquire  your  exalted  views  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Lycanthropy.  Your  Exaltedness 
knows '* 

"Yes,  yes,"  broke  in  MWAW,  "old  Teu- 
tonic legend.  Men  become  wolves.  Strong- 
est and  fiercest  breed.  Eat  people  up. 
Frighten  everybody.  Ravage  countryside. 
Beautiful  myth !  Teaches  power  is  greatest 
thing.  Might  gives  right.  Force  over  all!" 

[52] 


APOLOGUE 

"Certainly,  Highly  Exalted,"  said 
Schmuck  humbly,  "it  is  a  wonder-beautiful 
myth,  full  of  true  idealism.  But  what  if 
it  lost  its  purely  mythical  quality  and  be- 
came historical,  actual,  contemporaneous? 
Would  it  not  change  its  aspect  ?  Would  not 
people  object  to  it?  Might  not  the  Wer- 
wolf get  himself  disliked?" 

"Perhaps,"  answered  MWAW,  smiling 
till  his  eyes  almost  disappeared.  "But  what 
difference?  Ignorant  people,  weak  people, 
no  account.  Werwolf  is  stronger  race,  there- 
fore superior.  Objections  silly." 

"True,  Exaltedness,"  said  Schmuck.  "It 
is  the  first  duty  of  every  ideal  to  realize  it- 
self. Yet  in  this  particular  matter  the  com- 
plaints are  very  bitter.  It  is  said  that  great 
numbers  of  helpless  men  and  women  have 
been  devoured,  their  children  torn  in  pieces, 
their  farms  and  gardens  ravaged,  and  their 
houses  destroyed  by  Werwolves  quite  re- 
cently. Shall  I  deny  it?" 

"No,"  growled  MWAW.  "Don't  be  a  fool. 
It  is  too  well  known.  We  know  it  ourselves. 
[531 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

We  are  the  wolf-pack.  Don't  deny  it.  Jus- 
tify it.  That's  your  business.  Earn  your 
salary." 

Schmuck  was  as  nearly  embarrassed  as  it 
is  possible  for  a  professor  to  be. 

"Willingly,  Exaltedness,"  he  stammered. 
"But  the  trouble  is  to  find  the  basic  argu- 
ments. Even  among  the  Hivites  and  the 
Hittites,  I  have  not  yet  discovered  any 
traces " 

"Nonsense,"  snapped  MWAW.  "Hivites 
and  Hittites  are  dead.  WE  are  alive.  Justify 
US.  Think!" 

"Pardon,  Highly  Exalted,"  said  Schmuck, 
"I  was  trying  to  think.  The  first  justifica- 
tion that  occurs  to  me  is  the  plea  of  neces- 
sity— ^biological  necessity." 

"It  sounds  good,"  grunted  MWAW.  "But 
vague.  Explain." 

"A  biological  necessity  is  a  thing  that 
knows  no  law.  It  is  the  inward  urge  of 
every  living  creature  to  expand  its  own  life 
without  regard  to  the  lives  of  others.  It 
is  above  morality,  because  whatever  is 
necessary  is  moral." 

[541 


APOLOGUE 

"ExceUent,"  exclaimed  MWAW.  "We 
have  felt  that  ourselves.  Continue." 

"Now,  doubtless,  the  Highly  Exalted  are 
often  hungry." 

"Always,"  interrupted  MWAW,  "say  al- 
ways!" 

"Always  being  hungry,"  droned  Schmuck, 
"the  Highly  Exalted  may  feel  at  certain 
times  the  craving  for  a  certain  kind  of  food 
in  order  to  obtain  a  more  perfect  expan- 
sion. To  need  is  to  take.  Is  it  not  so?" 

"It  is,"  said  MWAW,  "and  we  do.  Find 
another  argument." 

"SeK-defense,"  repHed  Schmuck. 

"Too  old,"  said  MWAW.  "Worn  out. 
Won't  go  any  more." 

"But  as  I  shall  put  it.  Highly  Exalted 
will  see  a  newness  in  it.  The  best  way  to 
defend  oneself  is  by  injuring  others.  Sheep, 
for  example,  when  gathered  in  sufficient 
numbers  are  the  most  dangerous  animals 
in  the  world.  The  only  way  to  be  safe  from 
them  is  to  attack  them  and  scatter  them. 
Especially  the  small  flocks,  for  that  pre- 
vents their  growing  larger  and  becoming 

f55l 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

more  dangerous.  Particularly  should  the 
sheep  with  horns  be  attacked.  Sheep  have 
no  right  to  have  horns.  Wolves  have  none. 
But  even  the  hornless  sheep  and  the  lambs 
should  not  be  spared,  for  by  rending  them 
you  may  frighten  and  discourage  the  horned 
ones." 

"Capital,"  cried  MWAW,  springing  up 
and  pacing  the  arbor  in  excitement.  "Just 
our  own  idea.  Frightfulness  increases  force. 
We  like  to  make  people  afraid.  We  feel 
stronger.  Essence  of  Werwolfery.  Give  an- 
other argument,  excellent  Schmuck.  Think 
once  more." 

"The  Highly  Exalted  will  forgive  me.  I 
cannot,  momentarily,  bring  forth  another." 

"What!"  snarled  an  angry  voice  above 
the  trembling  professor.  "Not  think  of  the 
best  argument  of  all !  Forget  your  creed ! 
Deny  your  faith  !  Wretched  Schmuck !  Who 
gave  you  a  place?  Who  feeds  you?  Who 
are  WE?" 

"The  Lord's  Anointed!"  murmured 
Schmuck,  falling  on  his  knees. 

[561 


APOLOGUE 

MWAW  drew  himself  up,  stiff  as  steel. 
His  eyes  blazed  through  their  slits  like 
coals  of  fire. 

"Right!"  he  cried.  "Right  at  last.  That 
is  the  great  argument.  Use  it.  WE  are  the 
Chosen  of  God.  WE  are  his  weapon,  his 
vicegerent.  Whatever  WE  do  is  a  brave 
act  and  a  good  deed.  Woe  to  the  disobedi- 
ent!" 

He  held  out  his  hand  and  lifted  the  pro- 
fessor to  his  feet. 

"Stand  up,  Schmuck.  You  are  forgiven. 
Take  more  beer.  To-night  I  follow  biologi- 
cal necessity.  More  work  to  do.  But  you 
go  and  tell  people  the  truth." 

So  Schmuck  went.  Whether  he  told  the 
truth  or  not  is  uncertain.  At  all  events,  it 
was  in  different  words.  And  the  Werwolf- 
ery  continued.  , 


[57] 


m 

THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 


In  the  days  immediately  before  and  after 
the  breaking  of  the  war-tempest,  the  ser- 
vants of  the  United  States  Government  in 
Europe  were  suddenly  overwhelmed  by  a 
flood  of  work  and  care.  The  strenuous,  in- 
cessant toil  in  the  consulates,  legations,  and 
embassies  acted  somewhat  as  a  narcotic. 
There  was  so  much  to  do  that  there  was  no 
time  to  worry. 
The  sense  of  an  unmeasured  calamity  was 
present  in  the  background  of  our  thoughts 
from  the  very  beginning.  But  it  was  not 
until  later  that  the  nature  of  the  disaster 
grew  clear  and  poignant.  As  month  after 
month  hammered  swiftly  by,  the  meaning 
and  portent  of  the  catastrophe  emerged 
more  sharply  and  penetrated  our  minds 
more  deeply,  stinging  us  awake. 
[611 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

A  mighty  nation  which  ''rejected  the 
dream  of  universal  peace  throughout  the 
world  as  non-German"  (the  Crown  Prince, 
Germany  in  Arms);  a  nation  trained  for 
war  as  a  "biological  necessity  m  which 
Might  proves  itself  the  supreme  Right" 
(Bernhardi,  Germany  and  the  Next  War);  a 
nation  which  had  been  taught  that  "fright- 
fulness"  is  a  lawful  and  essential  weapon  in 
war  (Von  Clausewitz);  and  whose  generals 
said,  "Frankly,  we  are  and  must  be  bar- 
barians" (Von  Diefurth,  Hamburger  Nach- 
richten)y  while  their  philosophers  declared 
that  "The  German  is  the  superior  type  of 
the  species  homo  sapiens**  (Woltmann);  a 
nation  whose  Imperial  Head  commended  to 
his  soldiers  the  example  of  the  Huns,  and 
proclaimed,  "It  is  to  the  empire  of  the 
world  that  the  German  genius  aspires" 
(Kaiser  Wilhelm,  Speech  at  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
June  20,  1902) — a  nation  thus  armed,  in- 
structed, disciplined,  and  demoralized  had 
broken  loose.  Another  Attila  had  come, 
with  a  new  horde  behind  him  to  devastate 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

and  change  the  face  of  the  world.  In  the 
tumult  and  darkness  which  enfolded  Eu- 
rope, the  Werwolf  was  at  large.  We  could 
hear  his  ululations  in  the  forest.  The  cries 
of  his  victims  grew  louder,  piercing  our 
hearts  with  pity  and  just  wrath. 

n 

But  even  when  the  most  dreadful  things 
are  happening  around  you,  the  regular  and 
necessary  work  of  the  world  must  be  car- 
ried on.  Your  own  particular  "chore"  must 
be  done  as  well  as  you  can  do  it. 

As  the  trouble  drew  near  and  suddenly 
fell  upon  the  world,  the  burden  of  enor- 
mously increased  and  varied  duties  pressed 
heavily  upon  the  American  representatives 
abroad.  The  first  thing  that  we  had  to  do 
was  to  make  provision  for  taking  care  of 
our  own  people  in  Europe  who  were  caught 
out  in  the  storm  and  the  danger. 

That  was  a  practical  job  with  unlimited 
requirements.  No  one,  except  those  who 
had  the  distracting  privilege  of  being  in  the 

[631 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

American  diplomatic  and  consular  service 
in  the  summer  of  1914,  knows  how  much 
work  and  how  many  kinds  of  work  rushed 
down  upon  us  in  a  moment.  Banking, 
postal,  and  telegraph  service,  transporta- 
tion, hotel  and  boarding-house  business, 
baggage  express,  the  recovery  of  missing 
articles  and  persons,  the  reunion  of  curiously 
separated  families,  confidential  inquiries, 
medical  service  (mainly  mind-healing),  and 
free  consultation  on  every  subject  under 
the  sun — ^all  these  different  occupations, 
trades,  and  professions  were  not  set  down 
in  our  programme  when  we  came  to  Europe, 
nor  covered  by  the  sUm  calf -bound  volume 
of  Instructions  to  Diplomatic  Officers  which 
was  our  only  guide-book.  But  we  had  to 
learn  them  at  short  notice  and  practise 
them  as  best  we  could.  No  doubt  we  often 
acted  in  a  way  that  was  not  strictly  pro- 
tocolaire.  Certainly  we  made  mistakes.  But 
it  was  better  to  do  that  than  to  sit  like 
bumps  on  a  log  doing  nothing.  The  immedi- 
ate affair  in  hand  was  to  help  our  own  folks 
who  were  in  distress  and  difficulty  and  who 

[64] 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

wanted  to  get  home  as  quickly  and  as  safely 
as  possible.  So  we  tried  to  do  it,  making 
use  of  the  best  means  available,  and  pray- 
ing that  heaven  and  our  diplomatic  col- 
leagues would  forgive  any  errors  or  gaffes 
that  we  might  make.  We  preserved  a  pro- 
found respect  for  etiquette  and  regularity. 
But  our  predominant  anxiety  was  to  get 
the  things  done  that  had  to  be  done. 

Take  an  illustration.  Excuse  the  personal 
references  in  it. 

From  the  very  beginning  it  seemed  clear 
to  me  that  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties  in 
the  first  days  of  war  would  be  to  secure  a 
supply  of  ready  money  for  American  trav- 
ellers in  flight.  As  a  rule  they  carried  little 
hard  cash  with  them.  Paper  money  would 
be  at  a  discount;  checks  and  drafts  difficult, 
if  not  impossible,  to  negotiate  in  Holland. 
Moratoriums  were  falling  everywhere  as 
thick  as  leaves  in  Vallombrosa. 

So  I  went  directly  to  my  friend  Foreign 
Minister  Loudon,  and  asked  him  a  plain 
question. 

"Would  your  Government  be  willing  to 

[65] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

help  us  in  getting  American  travellers* 
checks  and  drafts  on  letters  of  credit  cashed 
if  I  should  indorse  them  as  American  Min- 
ister?" 

[He  answered  as  promptly  as  if  the  sug- 
gestion had  already  been  formed  in  his  own 
mind — ^as  perhaps  it  had. 

"Certainly,  and  gladly!  Those  pieces  of 
paper  would  be  the  best  securities  in  the 
world — ^short-term  notes  of  the  American 
Government.  If  you  will  get  the  authority 
from  Washington  to  indorse,  the  Bank  of 
the  Netherlands  will  honor  the  checks  and 
drafts;  and  if  the  Bank  hesitates  the  Na- 
tional Treasury  will  cash  them." 

I  cabled  to  the  Department  of  State  ask- 
ing permission  to  make  the  indorsements 
(a  thing  hitherto  expressly  forbidden  by 
the  instructions  to  diplomatic  oflBcers),  and 
explaining  that  I  would  take  in  each  case 
the  best  security  obtainable,  whether  in  the 
form  of  a  draft  on  a  letter  of  credit  or  a 
personal  note  of  hand  with  satisfactory 
references,  and  that  no  money  should  be 

[66] 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

drawn  except  for  necessary  living  expenses 
and  the  cost  of  the  journey  home.  The  an- 
swer came  promptly:  "You  have  the  au- 
thority to  indorse." 

So  a  system  of  international  banking  be- 
tween two  Governments  was  introduced. 
I  believe  it  was  absolutely  a  new  plan. 
But  it  worked. 

Then  another  idea  occurred  to  me.  The 
letters  of  credit  were  usually  drawn  on 
London  or  Paris.  In  both  cities  a  mora- 
torium was  on.  Why  not  make  the  drafts 
directly  on  New  York?  Why  not  call  on 
the  signer  of  the  letter  of  credit  for  the 
money  instead  of  calling  on  the  addressee? 
This  would  cut  out  any  possibility  of  diffi- 
culty from  the  moratorium. 

This  also  was  a  new  method.  But  it  seemed 
reasonable.  We  tried  it.  And  it  worked.  A 
visiting  committee  of  New  York  bankers 
to  whom  I  related  this  experience  later 
laughed  immensely.  They  also  made  some 
remarks  about  "amateurs"  and  "audacity" 
which  I  would  rather  not  repeat.  But  upon 
[67] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

the  whole  they  did  not  seem  shocked  be- 
yond recovery. 

So  it  happened,  by  good  fortune,  that 
there  was  never  a  day  in  The  Hague  when 
an  American  fugitive  from  the  war,  home- 
ward bound,  could  not  obtain  what  cash 
he  needed  for  him  to  live  and  to  get  to  the 
United  States.  But  not  money  to  buy  sou- 
venir spoons,  or  old  furniture  and  pictures. 
"Very  sorry,'*  we  explained,  "but  our 
Government  is  not  dealing  in  antiquities 
at  present.  It  is  simply  helping  you  to  get 
home  as  quickly  and  comfortably  as  pos- 
sible. Please  tell  us  how  much  money  you 
need  for  board  and  passage-money  and  you 
shall  have  it." 

Except  three  or  four  chronic  growlers  and 
a  few  passionate  antiquarian  ladies,  every- 
body took  it  good-humoredly  and  cheer- 
fully. I  think  they  understood,  though  not 
always  clearly,  that  our  Government  was 
doing  more  for  its  citizens  caught  out  in  a 
tempest  than  any  other  government  in  the 
world  would  have  done. 

[68] 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

When  the  Tennessee  arrived  in  the  latter 
part  of  August  with  $2,500,000  in  gold  for 
the  same  purpose,  it  was  another  illustra- 
tion of  our  Government's  parental  care  and 
forethought.  We  received  our  share  of  this 
gold  at  The  Hague.  The  first  use  we  made 
of  part  of  it  was  to  take  up  the  American 
checks  and  drafts  on  which  the  Bank  of  the 
Netherlands  had  advanced  the  money.  Then 
we  sent  the  paper  to  America  for  collection 
and  repayment  to  the  National  Treasury. 
I  have  not  the  accounts  here  and  cannot 
speak  by  the  book,  but  I  think  I  am  not 
far  out  in  saying  that  our  loss  on  these 
transactions  was  less  than  five  per  cent  of 
the  total  amount  handled.  And  we  banked 
for  some  very  poor  people,  too ! 

I  never  had  any  idea,  before  the  war 
broke  out,  how  many  of  our  countrymen 
and  countrywomen  there  are  roaming  about 
Europe  every  summer,  and  with  what  a 
cheerful  trust  in  Providence  and  utter  dis- 
regard of  needful  papers  and  precautions 
some  of  them  roam !  There  were  young 

1691 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

women  travelling  alone  or  in  groups  of  two 
or  three.  There  were  old  men  so  feeble  that 
one's  first  thought  On  seeing  them  was: 
"How  did  you  get  away  from  your  nurse  ?" 
There  were  people  with  superfluous  funds, 
and  people  with  barely  enough  funds,  and 
people  with  no  funds  at  all.  There  were  col- 
lege boys  who  had  worked  their  way  over 
and  couldn't  find  a  chance  to  work  it  back. 
There  were  art-students  and  music-students 
whose  resources  had  given  out. 

There  was  a  very  rich  woman,  plastered 
with  diamonds,  who  demanded  the  free  use 
of  my  garage  for  the  storage  of  her  auto- 
mobile. When  I  explained  that,  to  my  pro- 
found regret,  it  was  impossible,  because 
three  American  guest  cars  were  already 
stored  there  and  the  place  could  hold  no 
more,  she  flounced  out  of  the  room  in  high 
dudgeon. 

There  was  a  lady  of  a  different  type  who 

came  to  say,  very  modestly,  that  she  had 

a  balance  in  a  bank  at  The  Hague  which 

she  wanted  to  leave  to  my  order  for  use  in 

[701 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

helping  people  who  were  poor  and  deserv- 
ing. "Please  make  as  sure  as  you  can  of 
the  poverty,"  said  she,  "but  take  a  chance, 
now  and  then,  on  the  deserts.  We  can't 
confine  our  kindness  to  saints."  This  gift 
amounted  to  two  or  three  thousand  dollars, 
and  was  the  foundation  of  the  Minister's 
private  benevolence  fund,  which  proved  so 
useful  in  later  days  and  of  which  a  remnant 
has  been  left  for  my  successor. 

An  American  wrote  to  us  from  a  little 
village  in  a  remote  province  of  the  Nether- 
lands saying  that  his  remittances  from 
home  had  not  arrived  and  that  he  was 
penniless.  He  added  by  way  of  personal 
description:  "My  social  position  is  that 
of  a  Catholic  priest  with  nervous  prostra- 
tion." We  helped  him  and  he  proved  to 
be  all  right. 

A  rising  comic-opera  star,  of  engaging 
appearance  and  manners  (American),  who 
was  under  a  temporary  financial  obscura- 
tion because  her  company  in  Holland  had 
broken  up,  came  to  ask  us  to  assist  her  in 

171] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

getting  to  Germany,  where  she  had  friends 
and  hoped  to  find  work.  We  did  it  with 
alacrity.  Then  she  wrote  asking  us  to  for- 
ward certain  legal  papers  in  connection 
with  a  divorce  which  she  contemplated. 
We  did  it.  Then  she  sent  us  some  of  her 
newspaper  articles  and  a  lot  of  cKppings 
from  German .  journals,  requesting  us  to 
transmit  them  in  the  Legation  pouch  to 
America.  This  we  politely  declined,  with 
the  plea  of  non  possumus.  Whereupon  she 
was  furious  and  denounced  us  to  the  Ger- 
man authorities  and  the  German-American 
press. 

An  American  lady  whose  husband  was 
dying  in  Hamburg  came  in  desperate  dis- 
tress with  her  daughter,  to  beg  us  to  aid 
them  in  getting  to  him.  We  found  the  only 
way  that  was  open,  a  little-known  route 
through  the  northeast  corner  of  Holland, 
procured  the  necessary  permits,  and  enabled 
the  wife  and  daughter  to  reach  his  bedside 
before  he  died. 

A  poor  woman  (with  a  nice  httle  baby), 

[721 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

whose  husband,  a  naturaHzed  American, 
was  "somewhere  in  Argentina,"  wanted  to 
go  to  his  family  in  one  of  the  northwestern 
States.  She  had  no  money.  We  paid  her 
expenses  in  The  Hague  until  we  could  get 
into  communication  with  the  family,  and 
then  sent  her  home  rejoicing. 

These  are  a  few  examples  of  the  ever- 
recurring  humor  and  pathos  which  touched 
our  incessant  grind  of  peace  work  in  war 
times  at  The  Hague.  Thousands  and  thou- 
sands of  Americans,  real  or  presumptive, 
passed  through  the  Legation — all  sorts  and 
conditions  of  men,  asking  for  all  kinds  of 
things. 

Our  house  was  transformed  into  an  In- 
quiry Office  and  a  Bureau  for  First  Aid  to 
the  Injured.  There  was  often  a  dense  throng 
outside  the  front  door,  filling  the  street  and 
reaching  over  into  the  park.  Two  Dutch 
boy  scouts,  capital  fellows  in  khaki,  volun- 
teered their  assistance  in  keeping  order, 
and  stood  guard  at  the  entrance  giving  out 
numbered  tickets  of  admission  so  that  the 
[781 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

house  would  not  be  choked  and  all  the  work 
stopped. 

You  see,  Holland  was  the  narrow  neck  of 
the  bottle,  and  the  mcredible  multitudes 
of  Americans  who  were  scattered  about  in 
Germany,  Austria,  Russia,  and  parts  of 
Switzerland,  came  pouring  out  our  way. 
There  was  no  end  to  the  extra  work.  Many 
a  night  I  did  not  get  my  clothes  off,  but 
took  a  bath  and  breakfast  in  the  morning 
and  went  ahead  with  the  next  day*s  busi- 
ness. No  eight-hour  day  in  that  establish- 
ment ! 

It  would  have  been  impossible  to  hold  on 
and  keep  going  but  for  the  devotion  and 
industry  of  the  entire  Legation  staff,  and 
the  splendid  aid  of  the  volunteers  who 
came  to  help  us  through.  Professor  George 
Grafton  Wilson,  of  Harvard,  was  our  Coun- 
sellor in  International  Law.  Professor  Philip 
M.  Brown,  of  Princeton,  former  Minister 
to  Honduras,  gave  his  valuable  service. 
Professor  F.  J.  Moore,  of  the  Massachusetts 
Institute  of  Technology,  took  charge  of  the 

[74] 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

registration  bureau.  Hon.  Charles  H.  Sher- 
rill,  former  Ambassador  to  the  Argentine, 
and  Charles  Edward  Russell,  the  Socialist, 
and  his  wife,  were  among  our  best  workers. 
Alexander  R.  Gulick  was  at  the  head  of 
the  busy  correspondence  department.  Van 
Santvoord  Merle-Smith,  Evans  Hubbard, 
and  my  son  ran  the  banking  department. 
These  are  only  a  few  names  among  the  many 
good  men  and  women  who  helped  their 
country  for  love. 

My  Kbrary  was  the  Diplomatic  Office,  to 
which  the  despatches  and  the  passports 
came;  the  Conference  Chamber,  where  all 
vexed  questions  were  discussed  and  decided; 
the  Court  of  Appeal,  where  people  who 
thought  they  had  not  received  fair  treat- 
ment could  present  their  complaints;  and 
the  Consolation  Room,  where  the  really 
distressed,  as  well  as  the  slightly  hysterical, 
came  to  tell  their  troubles.  Some  of  them 
were  tragic  and  some  comic.  The  most  agi- 
tated and  frightened  persons  were  among 
the  fat  commercial  men.  The  women,  as  a 

[751 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

rule,  were  fine  and  steady  and  cheerful, 
especially  the  American-born.  They  met 
the  adventure  with  good  sense  and  smiling 
faces;  asked  with  commendable  brevity  for 
the  best  advice  or  service  that  we  could 
give  them;  and  usually  took  the  advice  and 
were  more  grateful  for  the  service  than  it 
deserved. 

So  the  days  rolled  on,  full  of  infinitely 
varied  cares  and  labors;  and  every  after- 
noon, about  five  o'clock,  the  whole  staff 
with  a  dozen  or  a  score  of  our  passing 
friends,  went  out  under  the  spreading 
chestnut-tree  in  the  back  garden  for  a 
half-hour  of  tea  and  talk.  It  was  all  very 
peaceful  and  democratic.  We  were  in  neu- 
tral, friendly  Holland.  The  big,  protecting 
shield  of  "Uncle  Sam"  was  over  us,  and 
we  felt  safe. 

m 

Yet  how  near,  how  fearful,  was  the  fierce 
reality  of  the  unpardonable  war!  Belgium 
was  invaded  by  the  Germans,  an  hour  or 

176] 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

two  away  from  us.  At  any  moment  their 
troops  might  be  tempted  to  take  the  short 
cut  through  the  narrow  strip  of  Dutch 
territory  which  runs  so  far  down  into  Bel- 
gium; and  then  the  neutraUty  of  Holland 
would  be  gone!  The  little  country  would 
be  part  of  the  battle-field.  Holland  has  al- 
ways been  resolved  to  fight  any  invader. 
All  through  August  and  September,  1914, 
that  fear  hung  over  the  Dutch  people.  It 
recurred  later  again  and  again — ^whenever 
a  movement  of  German  troops  came  too 
close  to  the  borders  of  Holland;  whenever 
a  newspaper  tale  of  impending  operations 
transpired  from  Berlin  or  London.  Once  or 
twice  the  anxiety  rose  almost  to  a  popular 
panic.  But  I  noticed  that  even  then  the 
stock-market  at  Amsterdam  remained  calm. 
Now,  the  Dutch  are  a  very  prudent  folk, 
especially  the  bankers.  Therefore  I  con- 
cluded that  somebody  had  received  strong 
assurances  both  from  Germany  and  Great 
Britain  that  neither  would  invade  the 
Netherlands  provided  the  other  abstained. 
[77] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

But  all  the  time  there  was  that  dreadful 
example  of  the  "scrap  of  paper"  —  the 
treaty  which  had  been  no  protection  for 
Belgium — to  shake  confidence  in  any  pledge 
of  Germany.  And  all  the  time  the  news 
from  just  beyond  the  border  grew  more  and 
more  horrible.  Towns  and  villages  were 
looted  and  burned.  Civilians  were  massa- 
cred; women  outraged;  children  brought 
to  death.  Heavy  fines  and  ransoms  were 
imposed  for  shght  or  imaginary  offenses. 
(They  amounted  to  more  than  $40,000,000 
in  addition  to  the  "war  contribution*'  ex- 
acted, which  by  August,  1917,  had  reached 
$288,000,000.)  Churches  were  ruined. 
Priests  were  shot.  The  country  was 
stripped  and  laid  waste.  All  the  scruples 
and  rules  by  which  men  had  sought  to  mod- 
erate the  needless  cruelties  of  war  were 
mocked  and  flung  aside.  Ruin  marked  the 
track  of  the  German  troops,  and  terror  ran 
before  their  advance. 

On  August  19  Aerschot  was  sacked  and 
150  of  its  inhabitants  killed.  On  the  20th 

[78] 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

Andenne  met  the  same  fate  and  the  num- 
ber of  the  slain  was  250.  On  the  23d  Di- 
nant  was  wrecked  and  more  than  600  men 
and  women  were  murdered.  On  the  25th 
the  university  Hbrary  at  Louvain  was  set 
on  fire  and  burned.  The  pillage  and  devas- 
tation of  the  city  and  its  environs  con- 
tinued for  ten  days.  More  than  2,000 
houses  were  destroyed,  and  more  than  100 
civilians  were  butchered.  Time  would  fail 
me  to  tell  of  the  industrious  little  towns 
and  the  quaint  Old  World  hamlets  that 
were  wrecked,  or  of  the  men  and  women 
and  young  children  who  were  tortured,  and 
had  trial  of  mockings  and  bonds  and  im- 
prisonment, and  were  slain  by  the  sword 
and  by  fire.  Is  it  not  all  set  down  by  sworn 
witnesses  in  the  great  gray  book  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Belgium,  and  in  the  blue  book 
of  the  committee  of  which  Lord  Bryce  was 
the  head.f*  Have  I  not  heard  with  my  own 
ears  the  agony  of  those  whose  parents 
were  shot  down  before  their  eyes,  whose 
children  were  slain  or  ravished,  whose  wives 
[79] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

or  husbands  were  carried  into  captivity, 
whose  homes  were  made  desolate,  and  who 
themselves  barely  escaped  with  their  lives  ? 

Find  an  explanation  for  these  Belgian 
atrocities  if  you  can.  What  if  a  few  shots 
were  fired  by  ignorant  and  infuriated  civil- 
ians from  the  windows  of  houses?  It  has 
not  been  proved.  But  even  if  it  were,  it 
would  be  no  reason  for  the  martyrdom  of 
a  whole  population,  for  the  destruction  of 
distant  and  unincriminated  towns,  for  the 
massacre  of  evidently  innocent  persons. 

Was  it  the  drink  found  in  the  cellars  of  the 
houses  that  made  the  German  oflScers  and 
soldiers  mad?  Perhaps  so.  But  that  makes 
the  case  no  better.  It  was  stolen  drink. 

Was  it  the  carrying  out  of  the  cold-blooded 
policy  of  "f rightfulness"  as  a  necessary 
weapon  of  war?  That  is  the  wickedest  ex- 
cuse of  all.  It  is  really  an  accusation.  The 
probable  truth  of  it  is  supported  by  what 
happened  later,  when  the  Germans  came 
to  Poland,  and  when  the  Turks,  their  allies 
and  pupils  in  the  art  of  war,  slaughtered 

180] 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

800,000  Armenians  or  drove  them  to  a 
slow,  painful  death.  It  means  just  what 
the  title  of  this  article  says.  The  Werwolf 
was  at  large. 
The  first  evidence  of  this  spirit  in  the 
German  conduct  of  the  war  that  came  to 
my  personal  knowledge  was  on  August 
25.  Two  or  three  days  before,  our  Ameri- 
can Consul-General  in  Antwerp,  which  was 
still  the  temporary  seat  of  the  Belgian 
Government,  had  written  to  me  saying  that 
he  was  absolutely  destitute  and  begging 
me  to  send  him  some  money  for  the  relief 
of  his  family  and  other  Americans  who  were 
in  dire  need.  The  Tennessee  was  lying  off 
the  Hook  of  Holland  at  that  time,  and  there 
were  several  of  our  splendid  army  officers 
ready  and  eager  for  any  service.  One  of  the 
best  of  them.  Captain  Williams,  offered 
himself  as  messenger,  and  I  sent  him  in  to 
Antwerp,  with  three  thousand  dollars  in 
gold  in  a  belt  around  his  waist,  on  August 
24.  He  had  a  hard,  slow  journey,  but  he 
went  through  and  delivered  the  money. 

[81] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

That  very  night,  while  he  was  in  the 
city,  a  ZeppeHn  air-ship,  the  first  of  its 
deviHsh  tribe  to  get  into  action,  sailed 
over  sleeping  Antwerp  dropping  bombs. 
No  military  damage  was  done.  But  hun- 
dreds of  private  houses  were  damaged  and 
sixty  destroyed.  One  bomb  fell  on  a  hos- 
pital full  of  wounded  Belgians  and  Ger- 
mans. Scores  of  innocent  civilians,  mostly 
women  and  children,  were  killed.  "In  a 
single  house,"  writes  an  eye-witness,  "I 
found  four  dead:  one  room  was  a  chamber 
of  horrors,  the  remains  of  the  mangled 
bodies  being  scattered  in  every  direction." 

Mark  the  exact  nature  of  this  crime.  The 
dropping  of  bombs  from  aircraft  is  not 
technically  illegal.  The  agreement  of  the 
nations  to  abandon  and  prohibit  this  method 
of  attack  for  five  years  unfortunately  ex- 
pired by  limitation  of  time  in  1912  and  was 
not  renewed.  But  the  old-established  rules 
of  war  among  civilized  nations  have  for- 
bidden and  still  forbid  the  hombardmerd  of 
populous  towns  without  due  notice,  in  order 

[82] 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

that  the  non-combatants  may  have  a  chance 
to  find  refuge  and  safety.  This  German  mon- 
ster of  the  air  came  unannounced,  in  the 
dead  of  night,  and,  having  wrought  its  hell- 
ish surprise,  vanished  into  the  darkness 
again.  This  was  a  crime  against  interna- 
tional law  as  well  as  a  sin  against  humanity. 

My  captain  returned  to  The  Hague  the 
next  morning,  bringing  his  report.  He  had 
seen  the  horror  with  his  own  eyes.  More: 
with  the  care  of  a  true  officer  he  had  made 
a  map  of  the  course  taken  by  the  air-ship 
in  its  flight  over  the  city.  That  map  showed 
beyond  a  doubt  that  the  aim  of  the  ma- 
rauder was  to  destroy  the  principal  hospital, 
the  hotel  where  the  Belgian  Ministers  lived, 
and  the  palace  in  which  the  King  and  Queen 
with  their  children  were  sleeping. 

I  cabled  the  facts  to  Washington  at  once, 
and  sent  the  map  with  a  fuller  report  the 
next  day.  I  felt  deeply  (and  ventured  to 
express  my  feeling)  that  the  United  States 
could,  and  ought  to,  protest  against  this 
clear  violation  of  the  law  of  nations — this 
[831 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

glaring  manifestation  of  a  spirit  which  was 
going  to  make  this  war  the  most  cruel  and 
atrocious  known  to  history.  The  foreboding 
of  a  return  to  barbarism  has  been  fulfilled, 
alas,  only  too  abominably ! 

In  every  step  of  that  downward  path  Ger- 
many has  led  the  way,  by  the  perfection 
of  her  scientific  methods  applied  to  a  devil- 
ish purpose. 

Take,  for  example,  the  use  of  poisonous 
gas  in  warfare.  This  was  an  ancient  weapon, 
employed  long  before  the  beginning  of  the 
Christian  era.  It  had  been  abandoned  by 
civilized  nations,  and  was  prohibited  by 
one  of  the  Hague  conventions,  for  a  period 
of  five  years.  But  that  period  having  ex- 
pired, and  the  convention  being  only  a 
"scrap  of  paper,"  Germany  revived  the 
ancient  deviltry  in  a  more  scientific  form. 
On  April  22,  1915,  she  sent  the  yellow 
clouds  of  death  rolling  down  upon  the 
trenches  of  Ypres,  where  the  British  de- 
fended the  last  city  of  outraged  Belgium. 
The    suffocating    horrors    of    that  hellish 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

method  of  attack  are  beyond  description. 
The  fame  of  this  achievement  of  spectacled 
barbarism  belongs  to  the  learned  servants 
of  the  predatory  Potsdam  gang.  But  we 
cannot  blame  the  AUies  if  they  were 
forced  reluctantly  to  take  up  the  same 
weapon  in  self-defense. 

IV 

The  real  character  and  the  inhuman  effect 
of  the  German  invasion  were  brought  home 
to  us,  and  made  painfully  clear  to  our  eyes 
and  our  hearts,  by  the  amazing  tragic  spec- 
tacle of  the  flood  of  refugees  pouring  out  of 
Belgium. 

It  began  slowly.  When  the  quaint  frontier 
town  of  Vise,  surrounded  by  its  goose-farms, 
was  attacked  and  set  on  fire  on  August  4, 
there  were  many  families  from  the  neigh- 
borhood who  fled  to  Holland.  When  Liege 
was  captured  on  the  7th  after  a  brave  de- 
fense, and  its  last  fort  fell  on  the  15th,  there 
were  more  fugitives.  When  Brussels  was 
occupied  without  resistance  on  the  20th 

[85] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

there  were  still  more.  As  the  invasion  spread 
westward  and  southward,  engulfing  city 
after  city  in  widening  waves  of  blood,  the 
tide  of  terror  and  flight  rose  steadily.  It 
reached  its  high-water  mark  when  Ant- 
werp, after  the  Germans  had  pounded  its 
outer  and  inner  circle  of  forts  for  nine  days, 
was  bombarded  on  October  7  and  captured 
on  the  18th. 

Nothing  like  that  sad,  fear-smitten  ex- 
odus has  been  seen  on  earth  in  modern 
times.  There  was  something  in  it  at  once 
fateful,  trembling,  and  irresistible,  which 
recalled  De  Quincey's  famous  story  of  The 
Flight  of  a  Tartar  Tribe.  No  barrier  on  the 
Holland  border  could  have  kept  that  flood 
of  Belgian  refugees  out.  They  were  an 
enormous  flock  of  sheep  and  lambs,  har- 
ried by  the  Werwolf  and  fleeing  for  their 
lives. 

But  Holland  did  not  want  a  barrier.  She 
stood  with  open  doors  and  arms,  offering 
an  asylum  to  the  distressed  and  persecuted. 

I  do  not  believe  that  any  country  has 

[86] 


THE  WEEWOLF  AT  LARGE 

ever  made  a  better  record  of  wise,  steady, 
and  true  humanitarian  work  than  Holland 
made  in  this  matter.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
exaggerate  it.  Naturally,  Belgium  and  Great 
Britain  bore  by  far  the  largest  part  of  the 
financial  burden  of  caring  for  the  refugees. 
Regular  subsidies  were  guaranteed  for  this 
purpose.  But  Holland  gave  freely  and  gen- 
erously what  was  more  important:  a  prompt 
and  sufficient  welcome  and  shelter  from  the 
storm;  abundant  supplies  of  money  for  im- 
mediate needs,  food  and  clothing,  a  roof 
and  a  fire;  personal  aid  and  care,  nursing, 
medical  attendance — all  of  which  these  be- 
wildered exiles  needed  desperately  and  at 
once. 

This  is  not  the  place,  nor  the  time,  in 
which  to  attempt  a  full  report  of  the  hu- 
mane task  which  was  suddenly  thrown 
upon  Holland  by  the  deadly  doings  of  the 
German  Werwolf  in  Belgium,  nor  of  the 
way  in  which  that  task  was  accepted  and 
carried  out.  I  shall  note  only  a  few  things 
of  which  I  have  personal  knowledge. 

[87] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

Going  along  the  railway  line  which  leads 
to  Antwerp,  I  saw  every  train  Uterally 
packed  with  fugitives.  They  had  come,  not 
in  organized,  orderly  companies,  but  in 
droves — tens  of  thousands,  hundreds  of 
thousands.  They  were  dazed  and  confused, 
escaping  from  they  knew  not  what,  car- 
ried they  knew  not  whither.  It  is  well  for 
the  poet  to  say: 

"Be  not  like  dumb,  driven  cattle**; 

but  what  can  you  do  in  a  case  hke  this 
except  run  from  hell  as  fast  as  you  can 
and  take  the  first  open  road? 

The  station  platforms  were  crowded  with 
folks  in  motley  garments  showing  signs  of 
wear  and  tear.  Their  possessions  were  done 
up  in  bags  and  shapeless  bundles,  rolled  in 
pieces  of  sacking,  old  shawls,  red-and- white- 
checkered  table-cloths.  The  men,  with 
drawn  and  heavy  faces,  waited  patiently. 
The  women  collected  and  watched  their 
restless  flocks.  The  baby  tugged  at  its 
mother's  breast.  The  little  sister  carried  the 

[881 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

next-to-baby  in  her  arms.  The  boys,  as 
usual,  wandered  everywhere  undismayed 
and  peered  curiously  into  everything. 

The  crowds  were  not  disorderly  or  tur- 
bulent; there  was  no  shrieking  or  groaning. 
There  were,  of  course,  some  of  the  baser 
sort  in  the  vast  multitude  that  fled  to  Hol- 
land— street  rowdies  and  other  sons  of 
Belial  from  the  big  towns,  women  of  the 
pavements,  and  other  wretched  by-prod- 
ucts of  our  social  system.  How  could  it  be 
otherwise  in  a  throng  of  about  a  million, 
scooped  up  and  cast  out  by  an  evil  chance  ? 
But  the  great  bulk  of  the  people  were 
decent  and  industrious — ^no  more  angels 
than  the  rest  of  us  can  show  per  thou- 
sand. 

I  remember  a  very  respectable  old  couple, 
cleanly  though  plainly  clad,  waiting  at  the 
station  of  a  small  village,  looking  in  vain 
for  a  chance  to  board  the  train.  Every- 
thing was  full  except  the  compartment  re- 
served for  us.  We  opened  the  door  and 
asked  them  to  get  in.  The  old  gentleman 
[891 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

explained  that  he  was  a  landscape-gardener, 
living  in  a  small  villa  with  a  small  garden, 
in  a  subm-b  of  Antwerp. 

"It  was  a  beautiful  garden,  monsieur,"  he 
said  with  ghstening  eyes.  "It  was  arranged 
with  much  skill  and  care.  We  loved  every 
bush,  every  flower.  But  one  evening  three 
German  shells  fell  in  it  and  burst.  The  good 
wife  and  I"  (here  a  wan  smile)  "thought 
the  climate  no  longer  sanitary.  We  ran 
away  that  night  on  foot.  Much  misery  for 
old  people.  Last  night  we  slept  in  a  bam 
with  hundreds  of  others.  But  some  day  we 
go  back  to  restore  that  garden.  N'est-ce 
pas  vrai,  cherie  ?** 

Rosendaal,  the  Dutch  custom-house  town 
on  the  way  to  Antwerp,  claims  15,000  in- 
habitants. In  two  nights  at  least  40,000 
refugees  poured  into  that  place.  Every 
house  from  the  richest  to  the  poorest  opened 
its  doors  in  hospitality.  The  beds  and  the 
floors  were  all  filled  with  sleepers.  A  big 
vacant  factory  building  was  fitted  with  im- 
provised bunks  and  straw  bedding.  Two 

[90] 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

thousand  five  hundred  people  were  lodged 
there.  Open-air  kitchens  were  set  up.  The 
burgomaster  and  aldermen  and  doctors  and 
all  the  other  "leading  citizens"  took  off 
their  coats  and  worked.  The  best  women 
in  the  place  were  cooking,  serving  tables, 
nursing,  making  clothes,  doing  all  they 
could  for  their  involuntary  guests. 

In  the  picturesque  old  city  of  Bergen-op- 
Zoom — famous  in  history — ^I  saw  the  same 
thing.  There  a  large  tent-camp  had  been 
set  up  for  the  overflow  from  the  houses.  It 
was  like  a  huge  circus  of  distress.  The  city 
hall  was  turned  into  an  emergency  store- 
house of  food:  the  vaulted  halls  and  cham- 
bers filled  with  boxes,  bags,  and  barrels. 
When  I  went  up  to  the  bureau  of  the  burgo- 
master, his  wife  and  daughters  were  there, 
sewing  busily  for  the  refugees. 

I  visited  the  main  hospital  and  the  an- 
nexes which  had  been  established  in  the 
schoolhouses.  Twice,  as  we  climbed  the 
steep  stairs,  we  stood  aside  for  stretchers 
to  be  carried  past.  They  bore  the  bodies  of 

[91] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

people  who  had  died  from  exposure  and 
exhaustion. 

In  one  ward  there  were  a  score  of  the 
most  ancient  women  I  have  ever  seen. 
They  had  made  the  flight  on  foot.  God 
knows  how  they  ever  did  it.  One  of  them 
was  so  weak  that  she  could  not  speak,  so 
short  of  breath  that  she  could  not  lie  down. 
As  she  sat  propped  with  pillows,  rocking 
slowly  to  and  fro  and  coughing,  coughing, 
feebly  coughing  her  life  out,  she  looked  a 
thousand  years  old.  Perhaps  she  was,  if 
suffering  measures  years. 

Another  room  was  for  babies  bom  in  the 
terror  and  the  flight.  A  few  were  well- 
looking  enough;  but  most  of  them  were 
pitiful  scraps  and  tatters  of  humanity. 
They  were  tenderly  nursed  and  cared  for, 
but  their  chance  was  slender.  While  I  was 
there  one  of  the  little  creatures  shuddered, 
breathed  a  tiny  sigh,  and  slipped  out  of  a 
world  that  was  too  hard  for  it. 

It  was  part  of  my  unofficial  duty  to  visit 
as   many  as  possible  of  the  private  shel- 

[92] 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

ters  and  hospitals  and  workrooms  and  the 
public  camps,  because  the  Belgian  Relief 
Committee  and  other  friends  in  New  York 
had  sent  me  considerable  sums  of  money 
to  use  in  helping  the  refugees.  In  the  care- 
ful application  of  these  funds  I  had  the 
advice  of  Mr.  Th.  Stuart,  President  of  the 
"Netherlands  Relief  Committee  for  Bel- 
gian and  Other  Victims  of  War,"  and  of 
Baron  F.  van  Tuyll  van  Serooskerken,  a 
great  friend  of  mine,  whom  the  Queen  had 
appointed  as  General  Commissioner  to 
oversee  all  the  public  refugee  camps. 
Three  of  these,  Nunspeet,  Ede,  and  Uden, 
were  improvised  villages,  with  blocks  of 
long  community  houses,  separate  dormi- 
tories for  the  unmarried  men  and  for  the 
single  women,  a  dining-hall,  a  chapel,  one 
or  two  schoolhouses,  a  recreation-hall,  a 
house  of  detention  for  refractory  persons, 
one  hospital  for  general  cases,  and  another 
for  infectious  diseases.  It  was  all  built  of 
wood,  simple  and  primitive,  but  as  com- 
fortable as  could  be  expected  under  the 

.[931 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

conditions.  The  chief  danger  of  the  camps 
was  idleness.  In  providing  work  to  combat 
this  peril  the  Rockefeller  Foundation  and 
the  committee  of  the  English  "Society  of 
Friends"  were  of  great  assistance.  Each  of 
these  camps  had  accommodation  for  about 
10,000  people. 

The  fourth  camp  was  at  the  ancient  city 
of  Gouda,  famed  for  its  great  old  church 
with  stained-glass  windows  and  for  its  ex- 
cellent cheese  and  clay  pipes.  This  camp 
was  the  earliest  and  one  of  the  most  in- 
teresting that  I  visited.  It  was  established 
in  a  series  of  exceptionally  large  and  fine 
greenhouses,  which  happened  to  be  empty 
when  the  emergency  came.  Somebody — ^I 
think  it  was  the  clever  Burgomaster  Yssel 
de  Scheppe  and  his  admirable  wife — ^had 
the  good  idea  of  utilizing  them  for  the  refu- 
gees. It  seemed  a  curious  notion,  to  raise 
human  plants  under  glass.  But  it  worked 
finely.  The  houses  were  long  and  lofty; 
they  had  concrete  floors  and  broad  con- 
crete platforms  where  the  "cubicles"  for 

[941 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

the  separate  families  could  easily  be  erected; 
steam  heat,  electric  light,  hot  and  cold 
water  were  already  "laid  on";  it  was  quite 
palatial  in  its  way.  A  few  wooden  houses, 
a  laundry,  a  kitchen,  a  carpenter-shop  for 
the  men,  and  so  on,  were  quickly  run  up. 
There  was  a  bowling-alley  and  a  playground 
and  a  schoolhouse.  The  people  could  go  to 
church  in  the  town.  Soon  twenty-five  hun- 
dred exiles  were  living  in  this  queer  but 
comfortable  camp. 
But  it  was  evident  that  this  refugee  life, 
even  under  the  best  conditions  that  could 
be  devised,  was  abnormal.  There  was  not 
room  in  the  industrial  life  of  Holland  for 
all  these  people  to  stay  there  permanently. 
Besides,  they  did  not  want  to  stay,  and  that 
counts  for  something  in  human  affairs.  The 
question  arose  whether  it  might  not  be 
wise  to  let  them  go  home.  Not  to  send  them 
home,  you  understand.  That  was  never 
even  contemplated.  But  simply  to  allow 
them  to  return  to  their  own  country,  at 
least  in  the  regions  where  the  fury  of  war 

[95] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

had  already  passed  by.  I  suggested  to  Mr. 
Stuart  that  before  you  allow  poor  folks  to 
"go  home,"  you  ought  to  know  whether 
they  have  a  "home"  to  go  to.  So  we  took 
my  motor  in  October  and  made  a  little 
tour  of  investigation  in  Belgium. 
That  was  a  strange  and  memorable  jour- 
ney. The  long  nm  in  the  dripping  autumn 
afternoon  along  the  Antwerp  Road,  where 
the  miserable  fugitives  were  still  trudging 
in  thousands;  the  search  for  lodgings  in  the 
stricken  city,  where  most  of  the  streets 
were  silent  and  deserted  as  if  the  plague 
had  passed  there,  and  the  only  bustling  life 
was  in  the  central  quarter,  where  "the 
field-gray  ones"  abounded;  the  closed  shops, 
the  house-fronts  shattered  by  shells,  the 
great  cathedral  standing  in  the  moonlight, 
unharmed  as  far  as  we  could  see,  except 
for  one  shell  which  had  penetrated  the 
south  transept,  just  where  Rubens's  "De- 
scent from  the  Cross"  used  to  hang  before 
it  was  carried  away  for  safety — I  shall  never 
forget  those  impressions. 

[96] 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

The  next  morning,  provided  with  permits 
which  the  German  Military  Commandant 
had  very  courteously  given  us,  we  set  out 
on  our  tour.  The  journey  became  still  more 
strange.  The  beautiful  trees  of  the  suburbs 
were  razed  to  the  ground,  the  little  villas 
stood  empty,  many  of  them  half-ruined. 
(Perhaps  one  of  them  belonged  to  our 
friend  the  landscape-gardener.)  We  could 
see  clearly  the  emplacements  for  the  big 
German  guns,  which  had  been  secretly 
laid  long  before  the  war  began,  concealed 
in  cellars  and  beneath  innocent-looking 
tennis-courts.  The  ring-forts  surrounding 
Antwerp  were  knocked  to  pieces,  their  huge 
concrete  gateways,  their  stone  facings,  their 
high  earthworks,  all  battered  out  of  shape. 

Town  after  town  through  which  we  passed 
lay  half-destroyed  or  in  complete  ruins. 
Wavre,  Waelhem,  Termonde,  Duffel,  Lierre, 
and  many  smaller  places  were  in  various 
stages  of  destruction,  burned  or  shattered 
by  shell  fire  and  explosives.  The  heaps  of 
bricks  and  stones  encumbered  the  streets 

[97] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

SO  that  it  was  hard  to  pick  our  way  through. 
The  smell  of  decaying  bodies  tainted  the 
air.  The  fields  had  been  inundated  in  the 
valleys;  the  water  was  subsiding;  here  and 
there  corpses  lay  in  the  mud.  Old  trenches 
everywhere;  thousands  of  rudely  heaped 
graves,  marked  by  two  crossed  sticks; 
miles  on  miles  of  rusty  barbed-wire  de- 
fenses, with  dead  cows  or  horses  entangled 
in  them,  slowly  rotting,  haunted  by  the 
carrion  crows. 

Yet  there  were  some  people  in  the  coun- 
tryside. Now  and  then  we  saw  a  woman 
or  an  old  man  digging  in  field  or  garden. 
We  stopped  at  the  front  yard  of  a  little 
farmhouse,  where  the  farmer's  wife  stood, 
and  asked  her  some  directions  about  the 
road.  She  gave  them  cheerfully,  though 
the  house  at  her  back  was  Uttle  more  than 
a  mass  of  ruins. 

"Were  you  here  in  the  fighting.'*'*  we 
asked. 

"But  no,  messieurs,"  she  answered  with 
a  short  laugh.  "If  I  had  been  here,  I  should 

[981 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

not  be  here.  I  ran  away  to  Holland  and  re- 
turned yesterday  to  my  house.   But  how 
shall  I  creep  in?"  She  pointed  over  her 
shoulder  to  the  pile  of  bricks.  "I  am  not  a 
cat  or  a  rat." 
They  are  indomitable,  those  Flemish  peo- 
ple. At  Lierre  we  were  very  hungry  and 
searched  vainly  for  an  inn  or  a  grocery.  At 
last  in  one  of  the  streets  we  saw  a  little 
baker-shop.  The  upper  story  was  riddled 
and  broken.  But  the  shop  was  untouched, 
the  window-shade  half  up,  and  underneath 
we  could  see  two  loaves  of  bread.  We  went 
in.  The  bare-armed  baker  met  us. 
*'Can  you  sell  us  a  little  bread?" 
"But  certainly,  messieurs,  that  is  what  I 
am  here  for.  Not  the  window  loaves,  how- 
ever; I  have  a  fresh  loaf,  if  you  please. 
Also  a  little  cheese,  if  you  will." 
"Were  you  here  in  the  fighting?" 
"Assuredly  not!  It  was  impossible.  But  I 
hurried  back  after  three  days.   You  see, 
messieurs,  some  people  were  returning,  and 
me — I  am  the  Baker  of  Lierre" 

[99] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

He  said  it  as  if  it  were  a  title  of  nobility. 

At  Malines  (Mechelen)  the  devastation 
appeared  perhaps  more  shocking  because 
we  had  known  the  russet  and  gray  old 
city  so  well  in  peaceful  years.  Many  of  the 
streets  were  impassable,  choked  with  debris. 
One  side  of  the  great  Square  was  knocked 
to  fragments.  The  huge  belfry.  Saint  Rom- 
baud's  Tower,  wherein  hangs  the  famous 
carillon  of  more  than  thirty  bells,  was  bat- 
tered but  still  stood  firm.  The  vast  cathedral 
was  a  melancholy  wreck  of  its  former  beauty 
and  grandeur.  The  roof  was  but  a  skeleton 
of  bare  rafters;  the  side  wall  pierced  with 
gaping  rents  and  holes;  the  pictured  win- 
dows were  all  gone;  the  sunlight  streamed 
in  everywhere  upon  the  stone  floor,  strewn 
with  an  indescribable  confusion  of  shat- 
tered glass,  fallen  beams,  fragments  of 
carved  wood,  and  broken  images  of  saints. 
|.  A  Httle  house  behind  the  Church  of  Saint 
Peter  and  Saint  Paul,  the  roof  and  upper 
story  of  which  had  been  pierced  by  shells, 
seemed  to  be  occupied.  We  knocked  and 

[100] 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

went  in.  The  man  and  his  wife  were  in  the 
sitting-room,  trying  to  put  it  in  order. 
Much  of  the  furniture  was  destroyed;  the 
walls  were  pitted  with  shrapnel-scars,  but 
the  cheap  ornaments  on  the  mantel  were 
unbroken.  In  the  ceiling  was  a  big  hole, 
and  in  the  floor  a  pit  in  which  lay  the  head 
and  fragments  of  a  German  shell.  I  asked 
if  I  might  have  them.  "Certainly,"  an- 
swered the  man.  "We  wish  to  keep  no  sou- 
venirs of  that  wicked  thing." 

V 

I  do  not  propose  to  describe  the  magnifi- 
cent work  of  the  "Commission  for  Relief 
in  Belgium."  It  is  too  well  known.  Besides, 
it  is  not  my  story;  it  is  the  story  of  Her- 
bert Hoover,  who  made  the  idea  a  reality, 
and  of  the  crew  of  fine  and  fearless  young 
Americans  who  worked  with  him.  England 
and  France  furnished  more  money  to  buy 
food;  but  the  United  States,  in  addition  to 
money  and  wheat,  gave  the  organization, 
the  personal  energy  and  toil  and  tact,  the 

[101] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

assurance  of  fair  play  and  honest  dealing, 
without  which  that  food  could  never  have 
gotten  into  Belgium  or  been  distributed 
only  to  the  civil  population. 

Holland  was  the  door  through  which  all 
the  supplies  for  the  C.  R.  B.  had  to  pass. 
The  first  two  cargoes  that  went  in  I  had 
to  put  through  personally,  and  nearly  had 
to  fight  to  do  it.  My  job  was  to  keep  the 
back  of  the  United  States  against  that  door 
and  hold  it  open.  It  was  not  always  easy. 
I  was  obliged  to  make  protests,  remon- 
strances, and  polite  suggestions  about  what 
would  happen  if  certain  things  were  not 
done. 

Once  the  Germans  refused  to  give  any 
more  "safe-conduct  passes"  for  relief  ships 
on  the  return  voyage.  Of  course,  that  would 
have  made  the  work  impossible.  A  German 
aircraft  bombed  one  of  these  ships.  I  put 
the  matter  mildly  but  firmly  to  the  German 
Minister.  "This  work  is  in  your  interest.  It 
reheves  you  from  the  burden  of  feeding  a 
lot  of  people  whom  you  would  otherwise 

[102] 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

be  bound  to  feed.  You  want  it  to  go  on?" 
"Yes,  certainly,  by  all  means."  "Well, 
then,  you  will  have  to  stop  attacking  the 
C.  R.  B.  ships  or  else  the  work  will  have  to 
stop.  The  case  is  very  simple.  There  is  only 
one  thing  to  do."  He  promised  to  take  the 
matter  up  with  Berlin  at  once.  In  a  couple 
of  days  the  answer  came:  "Very  sorry. 
Regrettable  mistake.  Aviator  could  not  see 
markings  on  side  and  stern  of  ship.  Advise 
large  horizontal  signs  painted  on  top  deck 
of  ships,  visible  from  above.  Safe-conducts 
will  be  granted." 

When  this  was  told  to  Captain  White,  a 
clever  Yankee  sea-captain  who  had  gen- 
eral charge  of  the  C.  R.  B.  shipping,  he 
laughed  considerably  and  then  said:  "Why, 
look-a-here,  I'll  paint  those  boats  all  over, 
top,  sides,  and  bottom,  if  that'll  only  keep 
the Germans  from  sinkin'  'em." 

From  a  million  and  a  half  to  two  million 
men,  women,  and  children  in  Belgium  and 
northern  France  were  saved  from  starving 
to  death  by  the  work  of  the  C.  R.  B.  The 

[  103  ] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

men  who  were  doing  it  had  a  chance  to 
observe  the  conditions  in  those  invaded 
countries.  They  came  to  the  Legation  at 
The  Hague  and  told  simply  what  they 
knew.  We  got  the  real  story  of  Miss  Cavell, 
cruelly  done  to  death  by  "field-gray"  offi- 
cers. We  got  full  descriptions  of  the  system 
of  deporting  the  civil  population — a  system 
which  amounted  to  enslavement,  with  a 
taint  of  "white  slavery"  thrown  in.  When 
the  Belgian  workmen  were  suddenly  called 
from  their  homes,  herded  before  the  Ger- 
man commandant,  and  sent  away,  they 
knew  not  whither,  to  work  for  their  op- 
pressor, as  they  were  entrained  they  sang 
the  "Marseillaise."  They  knew  they  would 
be  punished  for  it,  kept  without  food,  put 
to  the  hardest  labor.  But  they  sang  it.  They 
knew  that  France,  and  England  too,  were 
fighting  for  them,  for  their  rights,  for  their 
liberty.  They  believed  that  it  would  come. 
They  were  not  conquered  yet. 

Here  I  must  break  off  my  story  for  a 

[1041 


THE  WERWOLF  AT  LARGE 

month.  It  has  not  been  well  told.  Words 
cannot  render  the  impression  of  black  hor- 
ror that  lay  upon  us,  the  fierce  indignation 
that  stirred  us,  during  all  those  months 
while  we  were  doing  the  tasks  of  peace  in 
peaceful  Holland. 

We  were  bound  to  be  neutral  in  conduct. 
That  was  the  condition  of  our  service  to 
the  wounded,  the  prisoners,  the  refugees, 
the  sufferers,  of  both  sides.  We  lived  up  to 
that  condition  at  The  Hague  without  a 
single  criticism  from  anybody — except  the 
subsidized  German-American  press  in  the 
United  States. 

But  to  be  neutral  in  thought  and  feeling 
— ah,  that  was  beyond  my  power.  I  knew 
that  the  predatory  Potsdam  gang  had 
chosen  and  forced  the  war  in  order  to 
realize  their  robber-dream  of  Pan-German- 
ism. I  knew  that  they  were  pushing  it  with 
unheard-of  atrocity  in  Belgium  and  northern 
France,  in  Poland  and  Servia  and  Armenia. 
I  knew  that  they  had  challenged  and  at- 
tacked the   whole   world   of  peace-loving 

[1051/ 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

nations.  I  knew  that  America  belonged  to 
that  imperilled  world.  I  knew  that  there 
could  be  no  secure  labor  and  no  quiet  sleep 
in  any  land  so  long  as  the  Potsdam  Wer- 
wolf was  at  large. 


[1061 


IV 

GERMANIA  MENDAX 


^ 


GERMANIA  MENDAX 


The  truth  about  the  choosing,  beginning, 
and  forcing  of  this  abominable  war  has 
never  been  told  by  official  Germandom. 

Now  and  then  an  independent  German 
like  Maximilian  Harden  is  brave  enough  to 
blurt  it  out:  "Of  what  use  are  weak  excuses  ? 
We  willed  this  war,  .  .  .  willed  it  because 
we  were  sure  we  could  win  it."  {Zukunft, 
August,  1914.)  But  in  general  the  official 
spokesmen  of  Germany  keep  up  the  claim 
that  their  country  was  attacked  and  forced 
to  fly  to  arms  to  protect  herself. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  the  Imperial  Chancellor 
to  the  members  of  the  Reichstag  on  August 
4,  1914,  "we  are  now  acting  in  self-defense. 
Necessity  knows  no  law.  Our  troops  have 
occupied  Luxembourg  and  have  possibly 
already  entered  on  Belgian  soil.  [A  little 
earlier  in  the  speech  he  confessed  that  they 

[1091 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

had  also  invaded  France.]  Gentlemen,  that 
is  a  breach  of  international  law.  The  French 
Government  has  notified  Brussels  that  it 
would  respect  Belgian  neutrality  as  long  as 
the  adversary  respected  it.  But  we  know 
that  France  stood  ready  for  an  invasion. 
France  could  wait.  We  could  not.  .  .  .  The 
injustice  we  commit— I  speak  openly — ^we 
will  try  to  make  good  as  soon  as  our  miH- 
tary  aims  have  been  attained.  He  who  is 
menaced  as  we  are,  and  is  fighting  for  his 
all,  can  only  consider  the  one  and  best  way 
to  strike."  *  (The  word  which  Herr  von 
Bethmann-Hollweg  actually  used  was  durch- 
hauen,  which  means  "to  hew,  or  hack,  a 
way  through.") 

It  was  against  such  weak  excuses  as  this, 
against  the  vain  pretext  that  the  German 
war-lords  were  the  attacked  instead  of  the 
attackers,  that  Herr  Harden  made  the 
frank  protest  which  I  have  quoted  above. 

Meantime  the  falsehood  of  the  tales  of 

*Out  of  several  translations  of  this  speech  I  have  chosen  as 
the  fairest  the  one  printed  by  the  American  Association  for  In- 
ternational Gjnciliation,  November,  1914,  No.  84. 

[1101 


GERMANIA  MENDAX 

French  preparation  for  invasion  and  of 
actual  violations  of  German  territory  has 
been  exposed  by  the  evidence  of  Germans 
themselves.  General  Freytag-Loringhoven, 
in  his  essay  on  "The  First  Victories  in  the 
West,"  has  shown  that  the  French  high  com- 
mand was  taken  off  its  guard  by  the  swift 
stab  through  Luxembourg  and  Belgium, 
and  could  not  get  the  Fifth  Army  Corps  to 
the  Douai-Charleroi  Hne  until  August  22. 
The  municipal  authorities  of  Nuremburg 
have  declared  that  they  have  no  knowledge 
of  the  dropping  of  bombs  on  that  city  by 
French  aviators. 
The  falsehood  of  the  Chancellor's  promise 
that  Germany  would  "make  good  her  in- 
justice" to  Belgium  after  attaining  her 
military  aims  is  foreshadowed  to-day.  (Sep- 
tember 27.)  The  newspapers  of  this  morning 
contain  a  semi-official  press  statement  in 
regard  to  a  note  verbale  handed  by  the  For- 
eign Secretary  to  the  Papal  Nuncio  at  Ber- 
hn.  Germany,  if  this  statement  is  correct, 
now  proposes  to  spoil  the  future  of  Bel- 
[1111 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

gium  by  splitting  the  nation  into  two  ad- 
ministrative districts,  Flemish  and  WaUoon, 
thus  injecting  the  poison-germ  of  disunion 
into  the  body  politic.  She  also  demands 
"the  right  to  develop  her  economic  inter- 
ests freely  in  Belgium,  especially  in  Ant- 
werp J^  and  a  guarantee  that  "any  such 
menace  as  that  which  threatened  Germany 
[from  Belgium !]  in  1914  shall  be  excluded.'* 
This  is  the  German  idea  of  making  good  an 
injustice  by  committing  a  fresh  injury.  It 
is  in  the  style  of  a  highwayman  who  says 
to  his  victim:  "I  will  reward  you  by  letting 
you  go.  But  I  must  keep  the  big  pearl,  and 
you  must  permit  me  to  break  both  your 
arms.    * 

*  For  further  confirmation  of  these  ideas  see  the  Memoir  of  the 
late  General  von  Bissing,  former  Governor-General  of  Belgium, 
published  by  the  Bergisch-Mdrkische  Zeitung,  May  18,  1917,  and 
by  Das  Grossere  Deutschland,  May  19,  1917. 

"History  now  shows  us  that,  neither  prior  to,  nor  at  the  outset 
of  hostilities,  were  people  able  to  rely  to  any  great  extent  on  a 
neutral  Belgium,  and,  should  we  attach  a  certain  importance  to 
these  historic  truths,  we  shall  not,  however,  on  the  conclusion  of 
peace,  suffer  ourselves  to  allow  of  the  revival  of  Belgium  as  a 
neutral  state  and  country.  An  independent  or  neutral  Belgium, 
or  a  Belgium  whose  status  would  be  fixed  by  treaties  of  another 
kind,  will  be,  as  before  the  war,  under  the  inauspicious  influence 
of  England  and  France,  as  well  as  the  prey  of  America,  who  is 

[112] 


GERMANIA  MENDAX 

Somewhere  I  have  read  a  Latin  Hne — the 
name  of  whose-  author  has  shpped  my 
memory — which  seems  to  fit  the  case  per- 
fectly: ^'Quidquid  non  audet  in  historia 
Germania  mendaxr'* 

il 

THE  AUSTRIAN  ULTIMATUM  TO  SERVIA 

In  the  latter  part  of  1916  the  New  York 
Times  published  an  admirable  series  of 
articles,  signed  "Cosmos,"  on  The  Basis  of 

seeking  to  utilize  Belgian  securities.  There  is  only  one  way  to 
prevent  this,  viz. :  by  the  policy  of  force,  and  it  is  force  that  should 
achieve  the  result  that  the  population,  at  present  still  hostile, 
should  become  used  to  German  rule  and  submit  to  it.  Moreover, 
it  will  be  necessary,  through  a  peace  assuring  us  the  annexation 
of  Belgium,  that  we  should  be  able  to  protect,  as  we  are  now  com- 
pelled to  do,  the  German  subjects  who  have  settled  in  this  country, 
and  the  protection  we  shall  be  enabled  to  afford  them  will  be  of 
special  service  to  us  in  the  struggle  about  to  take  place  in  the 
world's  market.  It  is  only  by  reigning  over  Belgium  that  we 
shall  be  able  to  utilize  {verwerten),  with  a  view  to  German  inter- 
ests, Belgian  capital  in  savings  and  the  numerous  Belgian  joint- 
stock  companies  already  existing  in  enemy  countries.  We  ought 
to  have  control  over  the  important  enterprises  that  Belgian  capi- 
tal has  founded  in  Turkey,  the  Balkans,  and  China.  .  .  ." 

*  I  have  taken  the  references  which  follow,  as  far  as  possible, 
from  Official  Diplomatic  Documents,  edited  by  E.  von  Mach,  The 
Macmillan  Co.,  New  York,  1916.  The  comments  and  footnotes  in 
this  volmne  are  untrustworthy,  but  the  texts  are  presumably  cor- 
rect, and  it  is  polite  to  judge  the  Germans  from  their  own  mouths. 
The  book  is  quoted  as  Off.  Dip.  Doc. 

[113] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

Durable  Peace*  With  almost  every  state- 
ment of  this  learned  and  able  writer  I  fomid 
myself  in  thorough  accord.  But  the  fourth 
sentence  of  the  first  article  I  could  not 
accept. 

"The  question  as  to  who  oi;  what  power," 
writes  Cosmos,  "is  chiefly  responsible  for 
the  last  events  that  immediately  preceded 
the  war  has  become  for  the  moment  one  of 
merely  historical  interest." 

On  the  contrary,  it  seems  to  me  a  question 
of  immediate,  vital,  decisive  interest.  It 
certainly  determined  the  national  action  of 
France,  Great  Britain,  and  Italy.  They  did 
not  beheve  that  Germany  and  Austria  were 
acting  in  seK-defense.  If  that  had  been  the 
case,  Italy  at  least  would  have  been  bound 
by  treaty  to  come  to  the  aid  of  her  part- 
ners in  the  Triple  Alliance,  which  was  purely 
a  defensive  league.  But  she  formally  de- 
clined to  do  so,  on  the  ground  that  "the 
war  undertaken  by  Austria,  and  the  con- 

*  These    articles    are    now   published   in  book  fonn   by  the 

Scribners. 

[114] 


GERMANIA  MENDAX 

sequences  which  might  result,  had,  in  the 
words  of  the  German  Ambassador  himself, 
a  directly  aggressive  object."  {Off.  Dip. 
Doc,  p.  431.)  The  same  ground  was  taken 
in  the  message  of  the  President  of  the 
French  RepubKc  to  the  Parliament  on 
August  4,  1914  {Off.  Dip.  Doc,  p.  444), 
and  in  the  speech  of  the  British  Prime 
Minister,  August  6,  the  day  on  which  the 
Parliament  passed  the  first  appropriation 
for  expenses  arising  out  of  the  existence  of 
a  state  of  war  {British  Blue  Book). 
The  conviction  that  the  ruling  mihtaristic 
party  in  Germany,  abetted  by  Austria, 
bears  the  moral  guilt  of  thrusting  this  war 
upon  the  world  as  the  method  of  setthng 
international  difficulties  which  could  have 
been  better  settled  by  arbitration  or  con- 
ference, is  a  very  real  thing  at  the  present 
moment.  It  is  shared  by  the  Entente  Alhes 
and  the  United  States.  It  is  one  of  those 
"imponderables"  which,  as  Bismarck  said 
long  ago,  must  never  be  left  out  of  account 
in  estimating  national  forces.  It  will  hold 

[115] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

the  Allies  and  the  United  States  together. 
It  will  help  them  to  win  the  war  for  peace 
under  conditions  for  Germany  which  may 
not  be  "punitive,'*  but  which  certainly  must 
be  reformatory. 

Understand,  I  do  not  imagine  or  main- 
tain that  the  primary  or  efficient  causes  of 
this  war  are  to  be  found  in  any  things 
that  happened  in  1914  or  1913.  They  are 
inherent  in  false  methods  of  government, 
in  false  systems  of  so-called  national  pohcy, 
in  false  deahng  with  simple  human  rights 
and  interests,  in  false  attempts  to  settle 
natural  problems  on  an  artificial  basis. 

All  nations  have  a  share  in  them.  They  go 
back  to  Austria's  annexation  of  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina  in  1908;  to  the  Congress  of 
BerUn  in  1878;  to  the  Franco-Prussian  War 
in  1870;  to  the  Prusso- Austrian  War  in 
1866;  to  the  conquest  of  Constantinople  by 
the  Turks  in  1453.  Yes,  they  go  back  fur- 
ther still,  if  you  Hke,  to  the  time  when  Cain 
killed  Abel !  That  was  the  first  assertion  of 
the  doctrine  that  "might  makes  right." 
1116] 


GERMANIA  MENDAX 

But  the  occasional  cause  of  this  war,  the 
ground  on  which  it  was  brought  to  a  head 
and  let  loose  by  Germany,  was  the  Austrian 
ultimatum  to  Servia,  presented  on  July  23, 
1914,  at  6  p.  M. 

This  remarkable  state-paper,  so  harsh  in 
its  tone,  so  imperious  in  its  demands,  that 
it  called  forth  the  disapproval  even  of  a 
few  bold  German  critics,  was  apparently 
meant  to  be  impossible  of  acceptance  by 
Servia,  and  thus  to  serve  either  as  the  in- 
strument for  crushing  the  little  country 
which  stood  in  the  way  of  the  Berlin- 
Baghdad-Bahn,  or  as  a  torch  to  kindle  the 
great  war  in  Europe.  I  do  not  propose  to 
trace  its  history  and  consequences  in  de- 
tail. I  propose  only  to  show,  by  fuller  proofs 
than  have  hitherto  been  available,  that 
Germany  must  share  the  responsibihty  for 
this  flagitious  and  incendiary  document. 

On  July  25, 1914,  the  German  Ambassador 
at  Petrograd  handed  an  official  note  verbale 
to  the  Russian  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs 
which  stated  that  "  The  German  Government 

[117] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

had  no  knowledge  of  the  text  of  the  Austrian 
note  before  it  was  'presented,  and  exercised 
no  influence  upon  its  contents ^  (Ojf.  Dip. 
Doc,  p.  173.)  Similar  communications  were 
presented  in  France  and  England. 
[  This  barefaced  denial  that  the  German 
Government  knew  what  would  be  in  the 
Austrian  ultimatum,  or  had  anything  to  do 
with  the  framing  of  it,  was  a  palpable  false- 
hood. It  was  discredited  at  the  time.  The 
antecedent  incredibility  of  the  statement 
has  been  well  set  forth  by  Mr.  James  N. 
Beck,  in  his  vigorous  book.  The  Evidence  in 
the  Case*  New  evidence  has  come  in.  I  in- 
tend here  to  present  briefly  and  arrange  in 
a  new  order  the  facts  which  prove  to  a  moral 
certainty  that  the  German  Government 
knew  beforehand  what  the  content  and  in- 
tent of  the  Austrian  ultimatum  would  be, 
and  what  consequences  it  would  probably 
entail. 
(1)  Austria  was  the  most  intimate  ally  of 

*  The  Evidence  in  ike  Case,  Putnams,  New  York,  1914,  pp. 
31-46. 

[118] 


GERMANIA  MENDAX 

Germany,  admittedly  dependent  upon  her 
big  friend  for  backing  in  all  international 
affairs.  The  German  Ambassador  in  Vienna, 
Herr  von  Tsehirsky,  and  the  Austrian  Am- 
bassador in  Berlin,  Count  Szogyeny,  were 
in  close  consultation  with  the  Governments 
to  which  they  were  accredited  during  the 
weeks  that  followed  the  crime  of  Serajevo, 
June  28-July  23.  It  is  absolutely  incredible 
that  Austria  should  not  have  consulted  her 
big  friend  in  regard  to  the  momentous 
step  against  Servia,  altogether  impossible 
that  Germany  should  not  have  insisted  upon 
knowing  what  her  smaller  friend  was  doing 
in  a  matter  of  such  importance  to  them 
both.  You  might  as  well  imagine  that  the 
board  of  managers  of  a  subsidiary  railway 
would  block  out  a  new  policy  without  con- 
sulting the  directors  of  the  main  Hue. 

(2)  On  July  5,  1914,  it  appears  that  a 
secret  conference  was .  held  at  Potsdam  at 
which  high  officials  of  the  German  and 
Austrian  Governments  were  present.  It  is 
not  possible  to  give  their  names  with  cer- 

[119] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

tainty — not  yet,  perhaps  never — ^because 
these  gentlemen  come  and  go  in  the  dark. 
But  the  fact  of  the  meeting  was  brought 
out  pubUcly  in  the  speech  of  Deputy  Haase 
in  the  Reichstag,  July  19,  1917,  and  not 
contradicted.  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
ostensible  object  of  this  conference,  it  is  imr 
possible  to  beheve  that  the  most  important 
affairs  in  the  world  for  Austria  and  Ger- 
many at  that  moment,  namely  the  nature 
of  the  ultimatum  to  Servia  and  the  possible 
eventuahty  of  a  European  war,  were  not 
discussed,  and  perhaps  decided. 
I  (3)  On  July  15,  1914,  the  Italian  Am- 
bassador to  Turkey,  Signor  Garroni,  had 
an  interview  with  the  German  Ambassador 
to  Turkey,  Baron  Wangenheim,  who  had 
just  come  back  from  a  visit  toBerUn.  The 
German  diplomat  said  that  he  had  been 
present  at  a  conference  where  it  had  been 
decided  that  the  ultimatum  to  Servia  was 
to  be  made  of  such  a  nature  that  it  could 
not  be  accepted,  and  that  this  would  be  the 
provocation  of  the  war  which  would  prob- 

[120] 


GERMANIA  MENDAX 

ably  ensue.  Shortly  afterward  these  state- 
ments were  narrated  by  Signer  Garroni  to 
Mr.  Lewis  Einstein,  attache  of  the  Ameri- 
can Embassy  at  Constantinople,  who  care- 
fully noted  them  in  his  diary. 

(4)  On  July  22,  1914,  the  British  Am- 
bassador in  Berlin  sent  a  despatch  to  his 
Government  which  indicated  for  the  first 
time  clearly  the  attitude  which  the  German 
Government  had  decided  to  take.  I  there- 
fore quote  it  in  full. 

"Last  night  I  met  Secretary  of  State  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  and  the  forthcoming  Aus- 
trian demarche  at  Belgrade  was  alluded  to 
by  his  Excellency  in  the  conversation  that 
ensued.  His  Excellency  was  evidently  of 
opinion  that  this  step  on  Austria's  part 
would  have  been  made  ere  this.  He  insisted 
that  the  question  at  issue  was  one  for  set- 
tlement between  Servia  and  Austria  alone, 
and  that  there  should  be  no  interference 
from  outside  in  the  discussions  between 
those  two  countries.  He  had  therefore  con- 
sidered  it    inadvisable    that    the    Austro- 

[1211 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

Hungarian  Government  should  be  ap- 
proached by  the  German  Government  on 
the  matter.  He  had,  however,  on  several 
occasions,  in  conversation  with  the  Servian 
Minister,  emphasized  the  extreme  impor- 
tance that  Austro-Servian  relations  should 
be  put  on  a  proper  footing. 

"Finally,  his  Excellency  observed  to  me 
that  for  a  long  time  past  the  attitude 
adopted  toward  Servia  by  Austria  had,  in 
his  opinion,  been  one  of  great  forbearance." 
{Of.  Dip.  Doc.,  p.  56.) 

This  shows  that  Germany  knew  what 
Austria  was  doing,  approved  her  plan,  and 
had  resolved  that  there  "should  be  no  in- 
terference from  outside  in  the  discussion" 
— ^in  other  words,  Germany  would  allow 
no  other  nation  to  prevent  Austria  from 
doing  what  she  liked  to  Servia.  Could  Ger- 
many have  taken  this  absolutely  "com- 
mittal" position  if  she  had  been  ignorant 
of  what  Austria  intended  to  do  ? 

(5)  On  July  23,  1914,  the  crushing  Aus- 
trian ultimatum,  having  been  prepared  in 

[122] 


GERMANIA  MENDAX 

the  dark,  was  sent  to  Servia  and  delivered 
in  Belgrade  at  6  p.  M.  On  the  same  day,  and 
almost  certainly  at  an  earlier  hour,  the  Ger- 
man Chancellor  prepared  a  circular  con- 
fidential telegram  to  the  Ambassadors  at 
Paris,  London,  and  Petrograd,  instructing 
them  to  tell  the  Governments  to  which  they 
were  accredited  that  ^Hhe  action  as  well  as 
the  demands  of  the  Austro-Hungarian  Gov- 
ernment can  be  viewed  only  as  justifiable. 
...  [If  the  demands  were  refused]  nothing 
would  remain  for  it,  but  to  enforce  the  same  by 
appeal  to  military  measures,  in  regard  to 
which  the  choice  of  means  mu^t  be  left  to  it.** 
(Off.  Dip.  Doc,  p.  60.) 

Is  it  credible  that  the  German  Govern- 
ment would  have  pronounced  a  judgment 
so  important,  so  far-reaching  in  its  foreseen 
consequences,  if  it  had  had  no  previous 
knowledge  of  the  "action  and  demands"  of 
Austria  ? 

(6)  On  July  23,  1914,  the  French  Minister 
at  Munich  telegraphed  his  Government  as 
follows:  "The  President  of  the  Council  said 

[123] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

to  me  to-day  that  the  Austrian  ultimatum, 
the  contents  oj  which  were  known  to  him, 
seemed  to  him  couched  in  terms  which 
Servia  could  accept,  but  that,  nevertheless, 
the  actual  situation  appeared  to  him  seri- 
ous." {Off.  Dip.  Doc,  p.  59.) 

How  did  this  gentleman  in  Munich  come 
to  know  about  the  ultimatum,  while  the 
gentlemen  in  Berlin  professed  ignorance  ^ 
.,  (7)  On  July  25,  1914,  the  Russian  Gov- 
ernment was  officially  informed  that:  "Ger- 
many  as  the  ally  of  Austria  naturally  sup- 
ports the  claims  made  by  the  Vienna  Cabinet 
against  Servia,  which  she  considers  justi- 
fied:' (Off.  Dip.  Doc,  p.  173.) 

This  was  a  very  grave  declaration,  in 
view  of  the  public  announcement  which 
the  Russian  Government  had  made  on  the 
same  day:  "Recent  events  and  the  despatch 
of  an  ultimatum  to  Servia  by  Austria- 
Hungary  are  causing  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment the  greatest  anxiety.  The  Govern- 
ment are  closely  following  the  course  of 
the  dispute  between  the  two  countries,  to 

[124] 


GERMANIA  MENDAX 

which  Russia  cannot  remain  indifferent.*' 
{Off.  Dip.  Doc,  p.  170.) 
Certainly  Germany  would  not  have  come 
to  the  serious  decision  of  giving  unquahfied 
support  to  the  claims  of  Austria  as  against 
the  expressed  interests  of  Russia,  unless 
she  had  long  known  and  had  full  time  to 
consider  those  claims  and  what  they  would 
involve. 

(8)  On  July  30,  1914,  the  British  Ambas- 
sador in  Vienna  telegraphed  to  his  Govern- 
ment: "I  have  private  information  that  the 
German  Ambassador  knew  the  text  of  the 
Austrian  ultimatum  to  Servia  before  it  was 
despatched,  and  telegraphed  it  to  the  Ger- 
man Emperor.  I  know  from  the  German 
Ambassador  himself  that  he  indorses  every 
hne  of  it."  {Off.  Dip.  Doc,  p.  330.) 

(9)  Count  Bemstorff,  German  Ambassa- 
dor at  Washington,  pubHshed  an  article  in 
The  Independent,  New  York,  September  7, 
1914.  In  this  article  he  answered,  officially, 
several  questions.  The  first  question  was: 
Did  Germany  approve  in  advance  the  Aus- 

[125] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

trian  ultimatum  to  Servia?  The  answer 
was:  "  Yes,  Germany* s  reasons  for  doing  so 
are  the  following,  <&c." 

(10)  The  German  Government  has  itself 
acknowledged  that  it  was  consulted  by 
Austria  in  regard  to  the  attitude  to  be  taken 
toward  Servia,  and  the  possibility  of  en- 
suing war  if  Russia  intervened  to  protect 
the  life  of  her  little  sister  state.  Germany 
accepted  the  responsibihty  and  pledged  sup- 
port. "With  all  our  heart  we  were  able  to 
agree  with  our  ally's  estimate  of  the  situation, 
and  assure  him  that  any  action  considered 
necessary  to  end  the  movement  directed  against 
the  conservation  of  the  monarchy  would  meet 
with  our  approval."  {German  Official  White 
Book,  p.  4;  Off.  Dip.  Doc,  p.  551.) 

This  is  a  carte  blanche  of  a  kind  which  no 
great  government  could  possibly  give  to 
another  without  a  definite  understanding  of 
what  it  involved. 

Here  the  summary  of  the  evidence  that 
Austria  was  not  playing  "a  lone  hand" 
ends — at   least    until   further   confidential 

[126] 


GERMANIA  MENDAX 

documents  and  information  about  secret 
meetings  are  dug  up. 

Meantime  the  Imperial  German  Govern- 
ment maintains  its  plea  of  "not  guilty." 
It  still  denies  all  previous  knowledge  of, 
and  all  part  in,  the  nefarious  Austrian  ulti- 
matum to  Servia  which  precipitated  the 
world  war. 

The  denial  is  both  impudent  and  men- 
dacious. 

**Credat  JudcBus  Apellal" 
III 

THE  RUSSIAN  MOBILIZATION 

It  has  been  loudly  asserted  and  persist- 
ently maintained  by  the  Potsdam  gang 
that  the  cause  of  this  abominable  war  was 
the  mobihzation  of  Russia  in  preparation 
to  maintain  the  sovereignty  of  her  little 
sister  state  Servia  if  necessary.  "Germany," 
it  is  said,  "earnestly  desired,  from  the 
purest  of  motives,  to  'locaHze  the  coniBdct'" 

[127] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

— which  means  in  plain  words  to  let  Aus- 
tria deal  with  Servia  as  she  liked,  without 
interference — ^rather  a  one-sided  proposi- 
tion, considering  the  relative  size  of  the 
two  parties  in  the  benevolently  urged 
single  combat.  "But  Russia  rashly  inter- 
fered with  this  beautiful  design  by  declar- 
ing that  she  could  not  remain  indifferent 
to  the  fate  of  a  small  nation  of  kindred 
blood,  and  by  calling  up  troops  to  prevent 
any  wiping  out  of  Servia  by  Austria,  to 
whom  Germany  had  already  given  carte 
blanche  and  promised  full  support.  This  was 
a  wicked  threat  against  the  life  and  Kberty 
of  Germany.  This  was  an  action  which  ren- 
dered the  great  war  inevitable."  So  say  the 
German  authorities. 
The  subtitle  of  the  official  German  White 
Book  reads:  "How  Russia  and  Her  Ruler 
Betrayed  Germany's  Confidence  and  Thereby 
Made  the  European  War.*'  * 

*  I  quote  from  a  copy  of  the  original  pamphlet,  given  to  me 
with  the  compliments  of  Herr  von  MUller,  Gennan  Minister  at 
The  Hague.  Professor  von  Mach  in  his  Off.  Dip.  Doc.  does  not 
reproduce  this  title-page. 

[128] 


GERMANIA  MENDAX 

This  is  the  Potsdam  contention  in  regard 
to  the  cause  of  the  war.  The  documents  in- 
dicate that  it  is  a  false  contention,  based 
upon  suppressions  of  the  truth.  This  is  what 
I  intend  to  show. 

I  hold  no  brief  for  the  late  Imperial  Rus- 
sian Government.  Doubtless  it  was  shady 
in  its  morals  and  tricky  in  its  ways. 

The  telegrams  recently  discovered  by  an 
excellent  American  journalist,  Mr.  Herman 
Bernstein,  and  published  in  the  New  York 
Herald,  show  that  the  late  Czar  Nicolas  and 
the  still  Kaiser  Wilhelm  were  plotting  to- 
gether, a  very  few  years  ago,  to  make  a 
secret  "combine"  which  should  control  the 
world.  When  that  plan  failed,  no  doubt  the 
vast  power  and  resources  of  Russia,  under 
an  absolute  imperial  Government,  were  re- 
garded by  the  equally  autocratic  Govern- 
ment of  Germany  with  jealousy  and  dis- 
trust, not  to  say  fear.  No  doubt  Russia  was 
an  actual  and  formidable  obstacle  to  the 
Pan-German  purpose  of  getting  Servia  out 
of  the  path  of  the  Berlin-Baghdad-Bahn. 

[129] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

Grant  all  this.  Pass  over,  also,  the  inter- 
minable and  inextricable  dispute  about  the 
precise  meaning  and  application  of  the 
terms  "mobilization,"  "partial  mobiliza- 
tion," "complete  mobilization,"  "precau- 
tionary measures,"  ^^ Kriegsgefahry^  and  so 
on.  That  is  an  unfathomable  morass  wherein 
many  deceptions  hide.  In  that  controversy 
each  opponent  always  charges  the  other 
with  lying,  and  a  wise  neutral  doubts  both. 

It  seems  to  be  true — mark  you,  I  only  say 
it  seems — that  the  first  great  European 
Power  to  order  partial  mobihzation  was 
Austria,  July  26,  1914.  {Off.  Dip.  Doc,  p. 
197.)  On  July  28  the  order  for  complete 
mobilization  was  signed,  war  was  declared 
against  Servia  (pp.  272,  273),  and  on  July 
29  Belgrade  was  bombarded  (p.  354). 

On  July  29  Russia  ordered  partial  mobil- 
ization in  the  districts  of  Odessa,  Kief, 
Moscow,  and  Kasan,  and  declared  that  she 
had  no  aggressive  intention  against  Ger- 
many. {Off.  Dip.  Doc,  p.  294.)  The  Russian 
preparations   obviously  had  relation   only 

[130] 


GERMANIA  MENDAX 

to  Austria's  war  on  Servia  which  was  al- 
ready under  way. 

On  July  30  Germany  had  effected  her 
"covering  dispositions"  of  troops  along  the 
French  border,  from  Luxembourg  to  the 
Vosges,  part  of  which  by  chance  I  saw  in 
June  (see  p.  36^.),  and  on  the  same  day  the 
Berlin  semi-official  press  announced  that  a 
complete  mobiKzation  had  been  ordered. 
(Of.  Dip.  Doc,  pp.  324,  342.)  This  an- 
nouncement was  contradicted  and  with- 
drawn later  on  the  same  day  by  govern- 
ment orders. 

On  July  31,  af  1  a.m.,  the  Austrian  order 
of  complete  mobihzation,  which  was  signed 
on  the  28th,  was  issued.  {Off.  Dip.  Doc, 
p.  356.)  Later  in  the  same  day  the  Russian 
Government  ordered  complete  mobiliza- 
tion and  the  German  Government  pro- 
claimed a  state  of  Kriegsgefahr,  "war- 
danger."  (Of.  Dip.  Doc,  pp.  356-357.)  At 
seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  the  same 
day  Germany  sent  an  ultimatum  to  France, 
and  at  midnight  an  ultimatum  to  Russia. 

[131] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

On  August  1  she  declared  war  on  Russia, 
and  on  August  3  she  declared  war  on 
France,  having  previously  invaded  French 
territory  and  sent  her  army  through  neu- 
tral Luxembourg. 

Now  in  all  this  the  German  Government 
tries  to  make  it  appear  that  it  was  simply 
acting  on  the  defensive,  taking  necessary 
steps  to  guard  against  the  peril  threatened 
by  the  miUtary  measures  of  Russia. 

The  falsity  of  this  pretense  is  easily  shown 
from  two  facts:  First,  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment was  all  the  time  pleading  for  a  peace- 
ful settlement  of  the  Austro-Servian  dis- 
pute, by  arbitration,  or  by  a  four-power 
conference.  Second,  definite  offers  were 
made  to  halt  the  Russian  mihtary  mea- 
sures at  once  on  conditions  most  favor- 
able to  Austria,  if  Austria  and  Germany 
would  agree  to  an  examination  by  the 
Great  Powers  of  Austria's  just  claims  on 
Servia. 

On  the  first  point,  I  do  not  propose  to 
retell  the  long  story  of  the  efforts  supported 

[132] 


GERMANIA  MENDAX 

by  France,  England,  Italy,  and  Russia 
herself,  to  get  Germany  to  consent  to  some 
plan,  any  plan,  which  might  avert  war 
by  an  appeal  to  reason  and  justice.  To 
these  efforts  Germany  answered  in  effect 
that  she  could  not  "coerce"  her  ally  Aus- 
tria. 
But  one  document  in  this  Hne  seems  to 
me  particularly  interesting — even  pathetic. 
It  is  a  telegram  sent  by  the  late  Czar 
Nicolas  to  his  Imperial  Cousin,  Kaiser 
Wilhehn.  It  is  dated  July  29,  1914,  and 
reads  as  follows: 

"Thanks  for  your  telegram  which  is  con- 
ciliatory and  friendly,  whereas  the  oflBcial 
message  presented  to-day  by  your  Am- 
bassador to  my  Minister  was  conveyed  in  a 
very  different  tone.  I  beg  you  to  explain 
this  divergency.  It  would  he  right  to  give 
over  th^Austro-Servian  problem  to  The  Hague 
Tribunal.  I  trust  in  your  wisdom  and  friend- 

ship, 

"Nicolas." 

1133] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

This  telegram  is  not  contained  in  the  Ger- 
man White  Book.  But  Professor  von  Mach 
gives  it  in  his  Official  Diplomatic  Documents 
(p.  596). 

I  have  been  unable  to  find  in  any  book, 
pamphlet,  or  collection  of  papers  a  trace 
of  the  Kaiser's  answer.  Probably  he  did  not 
send  one. 

On  the  second  point  I  propose  to  quote 
only  the  three  definite  proposals  which 
were  before  the  Germau  Government  on 
July  31,  1914, 

Sir  Edward  Grey,  the  British  Secretary 
for  Foreign  Affairs,  had  been  trying  with 
the  cordial  help  of  the  Russian  Foreign 
Minister,  Sazonof,  and  the  President  of  the 
Council  of  France,  M.  Viviani,  to  formulate 
a  plan  of  averting  general  hostihties  which 
would  meet  the  approval  of  Germany. 

(1)  On  July  29  Sir  E.  Grey  had  an  official 
conversation  with  the  German  Ambassador 
in  London  and  laid  before  him  a  proposal 
in  regard  to  the  halting  of  mihtary  measures, 
described  in  the  following  words: 

"It  was  of  course  too  late  for  all  military 

[134] 


GERMANIA  MENDAX 

operations  against  Servia  to  be  suspended. 
In  a  short  time,  I  supposed,  the  Austrian 
forces  would  be  in  Belgrade,  and  in  occu- 
pation of  some  Servian  territory.  But  even 
then  it  might  be  possible  to  bring  some  medi- 
ation into  existence  if  Austria,  while  saying 
that  she  must  hold  the  occupied  territory  until 
she  had  complete  satisfaction  from  Servia, 
stated  that  she  would  not  advance  further, 
pending  an  effort  of  the  Powers  to  mediate 

between  her  and  Russia.'*  {Off.  Dip.  Doc, 

* 

p.  307.)  This  proposal  was  telegraphed  to 
Berlin  on  the  same  day,  and  from  there  to 
Vienna.  So  far  as  I  know  no  answer  to  it 
has  ever  been  received,  though  King 
George  V  warmly  supported  the  proposal 
in  a  personal  telegram  (July  30)  to  Prince 
Henry  of  Prussia,  and  begged  him  to  urge 
it  upon  the  Kaiser. 

(2)  On  July  30  Sazonof  in  the  name  of 
the  Czar  presented  to  the  German  Am- 
bassador at  Petrograd,  and  telegraphed  for 
deUvery  to  the  Foreign  Offices  at  Berlin 
and  Vienna,  the  following  proposal: 

"If  Austria,  recognizing  that  tke  Anstr*- 

[  135  1 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

Servian  question  has  assumed  the  character 
of  a  question  of  European  interest,  declares 
herself  ready  to  eliminate  from  her  ulti- 
matum points  which  violate  the  sovereign 
rights  of  Servia,  Russia  undertakes  to  stop 
her  military  preparations.*'  (Off.  Dip.  Doc., 
p.  341.) 

The  German  Foreign  Minister  von  Jagow, 
without  waiting  to  consult  Vienna,  repUed 
"that  he  considered  it  impossible  for  Aus- 
tria to  accept  the  proposal.*'  {Ibid.,  p.  342.) 
Austria  said  nothing  at  all ! 

(3)  On  July  31  practically  the  same  pro- 
posal, modified  on  the  suggestion  of  Sir  E. 
Grey  and  M.  Viviani,  was  renewed  by 
Russia.  As  presented  to  Beriin  and  Vienna 
it  read  as  follows: 

"7/  Austria  consents  to  stay  the  march  of 
her  troops  on  Servian  territory;  and  if,  recog- 
nizing that  the  Austro-Servian  conflict  has 
assumed  the  character  of  a  question  of  Euro- 
pean interest,  she  admits  that  the  Great  Powers 
rriay  examine  the  satisfaction  which  Servia 
can  accord  to  the  Austro-Hungarian  Govern- 
ment without  injury  to  her  rights  as  a  sov- 

[136] 


GERMANIA  MENDAX 

ereign  State  or  her  independence ^  Riissia 
undertakes  to  maintain  her  expectant  atti- 
tuder  (Of.  Dip.  Doc,  p.  370.) 

No  answer  from  Austria,  who  had  ordered 
a  general  mobilization  at  one  o'clock  in  the 
morning  of  that  day  ! 

No  answer  from  Germany,  except  the 
prompt  proclamation  of  Kriegsgefahr,  and 
the  declaration  of  war  on  Russia  on 
August  1 ! 

Thus  three  successive  opportunities  of 
putting  a  stop  to  further  military  prepara- 
tions of  Russia  on  the  simple  condition  that 
Austria  would  go  no  further,  but  be  con- 
tent with  what  she  already  had  occupied 
as  a  guarantee  for  reparation  from  Servia 
— three  golden  occasions  of  preserving  the 
peace  of  Europe — were  brushed  aside  by 
Germany  practically  without  consideration. 

Yet  the  marvellous  people  at  Potsdam  go 
on  saying  that  it  was  the  Russian  military 
preparation  that  brought  this  war  down  on 
the  world! — that  Germany  always  wanted 
peace,  and  worked  for  it ! 

Why  then  did  she  not  accept  the  prof- 

[1371 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

fered  chance  of  staying  the  progress  of 
Russian  preparations  when  it  lay  within 
her  power  to  do  so  by  hfting  a  finger? 

Because  she  did  not  wish  the  chance. 
Because  she  wished  Austria  to  go  on  with 
the  subjugation  of  Servia.  Because  she 
wished  Russia  to  be  forced  to  go  on  with 
her  measures  to  intervene  for  the  rescue 
of  Servia  from  extinction.  Because  she 
wished  herself  to  go  on  with  her  design  of 
putting  her  own  incomparable  military 
machine  at  work  to  force  her  will  on 
Europe.  Because  she  wished  to  have  a 
false  excuse  to  cover  her  own  guilt  in  mak- 
ing the  war  by  saying:  "Russia  did  it." 

The  Potsdam  gang  forgot  one  thing. 
Most  Kars  forget  something. 

They  forgot  that  by  refusing  the  oppor- 
tunity for  peaceful  settlement  which  would 
have  removed  their  excuse  for  making  war, 
they  would  furnish  the  proof  that  their 
excuse  was  false. 


138] 


A  DIALOGUE  ON  PEACE  BETWEEN  A 
HOUSEHOLDER  AND  A  BURGLAR 


A  DIALOGUE  ON  PEACE  BETWEEN 

A   HOUSEHOLDER   AND   A 

BURGLAR 

The  house  was  badly  wrecked  by  the 
struggle  which  had  raged  through  it.  The 
walls  were  marred,  the  windows  and 
mirrors  shattered,  the  pictures  ruined,  the 
furniture  smashed  into  kindling-wood. 

Worst  of  all,  the  faithful  servants  and 
some  of  the  children  were  lying  in  dark 
corners,  dead  or  grievously  wounded. 

The  Burglar  who  had  wrought  the  damage 
sat  in  the  middle  of  the  dining-room  floor, 
with  his  swag  around  him.  It  was  neatly 
arranged  in  bags,  for  in  spite  of  his  mad- 
ness he  was  a  most  methodical  man.  One 
bag  was  labelled  silverware;  another,  jewels; 
another,  cash;  and  another,  souvenirs.  There 
was  blood  on  his  hands  and  a  fatuous  smile 
on  his  face. 

[1411 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

**  Surely  I  am  a  mighty  man,"  he  said  to 
himself,  "and  I  have  proved  it !  But  I  am 
very  tired,  as  well  as  kind-hearted,  and  I 
feel  that  it  is  now  time  to  begin  a  Con- 
versation on  Peace." 

The  Householder,  who  was  also  something 
of  a  Pacifist  on  appropriate  occasions,  but 
never  a  bhnd  one,  stood  near.  Through 
the  brief  lull  in  the  rampage  he  overheard 
the  mutterings  of  the  Burglar. 

"Were  you  speaking  to  me?"  he  asked. 

"As  a  matter  of  fact,"  answered  the 
Burglar,  "I  was  talking  to  myself.  But 
it  is  the  same  thing.  Are  we  not  brothers? 
Do  we  not  both  love  Peace?  Come  sit 
beside  me,  and  let  us  talk  about  it." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  Peace,"  said 
the  Householder,  looking  grimly  around 
him;  "do  you  mean  all  this?" 

"No,  no,"  said  the  Burglar;  "that  is — er 
— not  exactly !  'All  this*  is  most  regrettable. 
I  weep  over  it.  If  I  could  have  had  my 
way  unopposed  it  would  never  have  hap- 
pened. But  imtil  you  sit  down  close  beside 

[1421 


A  DIAXOGUE  ON  PEACE 

me  I  really  cannot  tell  you  in  particular 
what  I  mean  by  that  blessed  word  Peace. 
In  general,  I  mean  something  like  the 
status  quo  ante  hel " 

"In  this  case,"  interrupted  the  House- 
holder, "you  should  say  the  status  quo 
antefurtum — not  helium  [the  state  of  things 
before  the  burglary ,  not  before  the  war]. 
You  are  a  mighty  robber — not  a  common 
thief,  but  a  most  uncommon  one.  Do  you 
mean  to  restore  the  plunder  you  have 
grabbed  ?  " 

"Yes,  certainly,'*  replied  the  Burglar,  in 
a  magnanimous  tone;  "that  is  to  say,  I 
mean  you  shall  have  a  part  of  it,  freely 
and  willingly.  I  could  keep  it  all,  you  know, 
but  I  am  too  noble  to  do  that.  You  shall 
take  the  silverware  and  the  souvenirs,  I 
will  take  the  jewels  and  the  cash.  Isn't 
that  a  fair  division?  Peace  must  always 
stand  on  a  basis  of  equality  between  the 
two  parties.  Shake  hands  on  it." 

The  Householder  put  his  hand  behind  his 
back. 

[  143  1 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

**You  insult  me,"  said  he.  "If  I  were 
your  equal  I  should  die  of  shame.  Waive 
the  comparison.  What  about  the  damage 
you  have  done  here.'^  Who  shall  repair  it.'*" 

"All  the  world,"  cried  the  Burglar  eagerly; 
"everybody  will  help — especially  your  big 
neighbor  across  the  lake.  He  is  a  fool  with 
plenty  of  money.  You  cannot  expect  me 
to  contribute.  I  am  poor,  but  as  honest  as 
my  profession  will  permit.  This  damage 
in  your  house  is  not  wilful  injury.  It  is 
merely  one  of  the  necessary  accompani- 
ments of  my  practice  of  burglary.  You 
ought  not  to  feel  sore  about  it.  Why  do 
you  call  attention  to  it,  instead  of  talking 
poHtely  and  earnestly  about  the  blessings 
of  Peace?" 

"I  am  talking  to  you  as  politely  as  I 
can,"  said  the  Householder,  moistening 
his  dry  lips,  "but  while  I  am  doing  it,  I 
feel  as  if  I  were  smeared  with  mud.  Tell 
me,  what  have  you  to  say  about  my  chil- 
dren and  my  servants  whom  you  have 
tortured  and  murdered.'*" 

[1441 


A  DIALOGUE  ON  PEACE 

"Ah,  that,"  answered  the  Burglar,  shrug- 
ging his  shoulders  and  spreading  out  his 
hands,  palms  upward,  so  that  he  looked 
like  a  gigantic  toad,  " — that  indeed  is  so 
very,  very  sad!  My  heart  mourns  over  it. 
But  how  could  it  be  avoided  ?  Those  foolish 
people  would  not  lie  down,  would  not  be 
still.  Their  conduct  was  directly  contrary 
to  my  system;  see  section  417,  chapter  93, 
in  my  *  Great  Field-Book  of  Burglary,* 
under  the  title  *Schrecklichkeit.'  Perhaps 
in  the  excitement  of  the  moment  I  went 
a  Httle  beyond  those  scientific  regulations. 
The  babies  need  not  have  been  killed — 
only  terrified.  But  that  was  a  mere  error 
of  judgment  which  you  will  readily  forgive 
and  forget  for  the  sake  of  the  holy  cause  of 
Peace.     Will  you  not  ?  " 

The  Householder  turned  quickly  and  spat 
into  the  fireplace. 

"Blasphemer,"  he  cried,  "my  gorge  rises 
at  you !  Can  there  be  any  forgiveness  until 
you  repent?  Can  there  be  any  Peace  in 
the  world  if  you  go  loose  in  it,  ready  to 

[1451 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

break  and  enter  and  kill  when  it  pleases 
you?  Will  you  lay  down  your  weapons 
and  come  before  the  Judge?" 

The  Burglar  rose  slowly  to  his  feet,  twist- 
ing up  his  mustache  with  bloody  brass- 
knuckled  hands. 

"You  are  a  colossal  ass,"  he  growled. 
"You  forget  how  strong  I  am,  how  much 
I  can  still  hurt  you.  I  have  offered  you  a 
chance  to  get  Peace.  Don't  you  want  it 
it?" 

"Not  as  a  present  from  you,"  said  the 
Householder  slowly.  "It  would  poison  me. 
I  would  rather  die  a  decent  man's  death." 

He  went  a  step  nearer  to  the  Burglar, 
who  quickly  backed  away. 

"Come,"  the  Householder  continued,  "let 
us  bandy  compUments  no  longer.  You  are 
where  you  have  no  right  to  be.  You  can 
talk  when  I  get  you  before  the  Judge.  I 
want  Peace  no  more  than  I  want  Justice. 
While  there  is  a  God  in  heaven  and  honest 
freemen  still  live  on  earth  I  will  fight  for 
both." 

[146] 


A  DIALOGUE  ON  PEACE 

He  took  a  fresh  grip  on  his  club,  and  the 
Burglar  backed  again,  ready  to  spring. 

Through  the  dead  silence  of  the  room 
there  came  a  loud  knocking  at  the  door. 
Could  it  be  the  big  neighbor  from  across 
the  lake  ? 


[147] 


VI 

STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 


STAND   FAST,   YE   FREE! 


From  the  outset  of  this  war  two  things 
have  been  clear  to  me. 

First,  if  the  war  continued  it  was  ab- 
solutely inevitable  that  the  United  States 
would  be  either  drawn  into  it  by  the  im- 
pulse of  democratic  sympathies  or  forced 
into  it  by  the  instinct  of  self-preservation. 

Second,  the  most  adequate  person  in  the 
world  to  decide  when  and  how  the  United 
States  should  accept  the  great  responsibility 
of  fighting  beside  France  and  Great  Britain 
for  peace  and  for  the  American  ideal  of 
freedom  was  President  Wilson. 

His  sagacity,  his  patience,  his  knowledge 
of  the  varied  elements  that  are  blended 
in  our  nationality,  his  sincere  devotion  to 
pacific  conceptions  of  progress,  his  un- 
wavering loyalty  to  the  cause  of  liberty 
secured  by  law,  national  and  international, 

11511 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

made  him  the  one  man  of  all  others  to 
whom  this  great  decision  could  most  safely 
be  confided. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  beUeved 
this  in  the  election  of  1916.  They  trusted 
him  sincerely  then  because  "he  kept  us 
out  of  the  war'*  until  the  inevitable  hour. 
No  less  sincerely  do  they  trust  him  now 
when  he  declares  that  the  hour  has  come 
when  we  must  "dedicate  our  Hves  and 
our  fortunes,  everything  that  we  are  and 
everything  that  we  have"  (President's 
Message  to  Congress,  April  2,  1917),  to 
defend  ourselves  and  the  world  from  the 
Imperial  German  Government,  which  is 
waging  "a  warfare  against  mankind." 

In  the  quiet,  but  never  idle,  American 
Legation  at  The  Hague  there  was  an  ex- 
cellent opportunity  to  observe  and  study 
the  incredible  blunders  by  which  Germany 
led  us,  and  the  unspeakable  insults  and 
injuries  by  which  she  compelled  us,  to 
enter  the  war. 
\  Our  adherence  to  the  Monroe  Doctrine 

[1521 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

was,  at  first,  an  obstacle  to  that  entrancer"\ 
Believing  that  European  governments  ought  / 
not  to  interfere  in  domestic  affairs  on  the/ 
American  continents,  we  admitted  the  con-j 
verse  of  that  proposition,   and  held  that; 
America  should  not  meddle  with  European  \ 
controversies    or    conflicts.    But    we    soon 
came  to  a  realizing  sense  of  the  ominous 
fact  that  Germany  was  the  one  nation  of 
Europe  which  openly  despised  and  flouted 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  as  an  outworn  super-  \ 
stition.    Her   learned   professors    (followed   \ 
by  a  few  servile  American  imitators)  had     ) 
poured  ridicule  and  scorn  upon  it  in  un-  ' 
readable  books.  Her  actions  in  the  West 
Indies  and  South  America  showed  her  con- 
tempt for  it  as  a  "bit  of  American  bluff." 
Gradually  it  dawned  upon  us  that  if  France 
were   crushed   and   England   crippled   our 
dear   old   Monroe   Doctrine   would   stand 
a  poor   chance   against   a   victorious   and 
supercilious     Imperial     German     Govern- 
ment. As  I  wrote  to  Washington  in  August, 
1914,  their  idea  was  to  "lunch  in  Paris, 

[153] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

dine  in  London,  and  spend  the  night  some- 
where in  America." 

Another  real  barrier  to  our  taking  any 
part  in  the  war  was  our  sincere,  profound, 
traditional  love  of  peace.  This  does  not 
mean,  of  course,  that  America  is  a  coun- 
try of  pacifists.  Our  history  proves  the  con- 
trary. Our  conscientious  objections  to  cer- 
tain shameful  things,  Uke  injustice,  and 
dishonor,  and  tyranny,  and  systematic  cru- 
elty, are  stronger  than  our  conscientious 
objection  to  fighting.  But  our  national  pol- 
icy is  averse  to  war,  and  our  national  insti- 
tutions are  not  favorable  to  its  sudden  dec- 
laration or  swift  prosecution. 

In  effect,  the  United  States  is  a  pacific 
nation  of  fighting  men. 

TVTiat  was  it,  then,  that  forced  such  a 
nation  into  a  conflict  of  arms  ? 

£t  was  the  growing  sense  that  the  very 
istence  of  this  war  was  a  crime  against 
imanity,  that  it  need  not  and  ought  not 
'to  have  been  begun,  and  that  the  only 
way  to  put  a  stop  to  it  was  to  join  the 

[  154  ] 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

AlKes,  who  had  tried  to  prevent  its  begin- 
ning, and  who  are  still  trying  to  bring  it 
to  the  only  end  that  will  be  a  finality. 

It    was    also    the    conviction    that    the 
Monroe  Doctrine,   so  far  from  being  an 
obstacle,  was  an  incentive  to  our  entrance. 
Th<g^  real  basis  of  that  doctrine  is  the  right  1 
of  free  peoples,  however  small  and  weak,  ) 
to  maintain  by  common  consent  their  own  \ 
forms  of  government.  This  Germany  and    ] 
Austria  denied.  The  issue  at  stake  was  noy^ 
longer   merely   European.    It   was   world-    y 
wide,      '  '  ^-^^^ 

The  Monroe  Doctrine  could  not  be  saved  \Y^ 


in  one  continent  if  its  foundation  was  de- 
stroyed in  another.  The  only  way  to  save 
it  was  to  broaden  it. 

The  United  States,  having  grown  to  be  \ 
a  World  Power,  must  either  uphold  every- 
where the  principles  by  which  it  had  been        , 
begotten  and  made  great  or  sink  into  the       V 
state  of  an   obese,   helpless   parasite.   Its 
sister  repubHcs  would  share  its  fate.  J 

But  more  than  this:  it  was  the  flagrant 

[1551 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

and  contemptuous  disregard  of  all  the 
principles  of  international  law  and  common 
humanity  by  the  Imperial  German  Govern- 
ment that  alarmed  and  incensed  us.  The 
list  of  crimes  and  atrocities  ordered  in 
this  war  by  the  mysterious  and  awful 
.power  that  rules  the  German  people — 
I  which  I  prefer  to  call,  for  the  sake  of  brevity 
^  and  impersonahty,  the  Potsdam  gang — is 
too  long  to  be  repeated  here.  The  levying 
of  unlawful  tribute  from  captured  cities 
and  villages;  the  use  of  old  men,  women, 
and  children  as  a  screen  for  advancing 
troops;  the  extortion  of  mihtary  informa- 
tion from  civihans  by  cruel  and  barbarous 
methods;  the  burning  and  destruction  of 
entire  towns  as  a  punishment  for  the  actual 
or  suspected  hostile  deeds  of  individuals, 
and  the  brutal  avowal  that  in  this  punish- 
ment it  was  necessary  that  "the  innocent 
shall  suffer  with  the  guilty"  (see  the  letter 
of  General  von  Nieber  to  the  burgomaster 
of  Wavre,  August  27,  and  the  proclamation 
of  Governor-General  von  der  Goltz,  Sep- 
[  156  ] 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

tember  2,  1914);  the  introduction  of  the 
use  of  asphyxiating  gas  as  a  weapon  of 
war  (at  Ypres,  April  22,  1915);  the  poison- 
ing of  wells;  the  reckless  and  needless  de- 
struction of  priceless  monuments  of  art 
like  the  Cathedral  of  Reims;  the  deliberate 
and  treacherous  violation  of  the  Red  Cross, 
which  is  the  sign  of  mercy  and  compassion 
for  all  Christendom;  the  bombardment  of 
hospitals  and  the  cold-blooded  slaughter 
of  nurses  and  wounded  men;  the  sinking 
of  hospital  ships  with  their  helpless  and 
suffering  company — all  these,  and  many 
other  infamies  committed  by  order  of  the 
Potsdam  gang  made  the  heart  of  America 
hot  and  angry  against  the  power  which 
devised  and  commanded  such  brutahty. 
True,  they  were  not,  technically  speaking, 
crimes  directed  against  the  United  States. 
They  did  not  injure  our  material  interests. 
They  injured  only  our  souls  and  the  world 
in  which  we  have  to  live.  They  were  vivid 
illustrations  of  the  inward  nature  of  that 
German    Kultur    whose    superiority,    the 

[157J 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

German  professors  say,  "is  rooted  in  the 
unfathomable  depths  of  its  moral  con- 
stitution.'* {Deutsche  Reden  in  Schwerer 
Zeit,  II,  p.  23.) 

But  there  were  two  criminal  blunders 
— or  perhaps  it  would  be  more  accurate 
to  call  them  two  series  of  obstinate  and 
stupid  offenses  against  international  law 
— by  which  the  Potsdam  gang  directly 
assailed  the  sovereignty  and  neutraHty 
of  the  United  States  and  forced  us  to 
choose  between  the  surrender  of  our  na- 
tional integrity  and  a  frank  acceptance 
of  the  war  which  Germany  was  waging, 
not  only  against  our  principles  and  in- 
terests, but  against  the  things  which  in 
our  judgment  were  essential  to  the  wel- 
fare of  mankind  and  to  the  existence  of 
honorable  and  decent  relations  among  the 
peoples  of  the  world. 
The  first  of  these  offenses  was  the  cynical 
md  persistent  attempt  to  take  advantage 
)f  the  good  nature  and  unsuspiciousness  of 
the  United  States  for  the  estabhshment  of 

[158] 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

an  impudent  system  of  German  espionage; 
to  use  our  territory  as  a  base  of  conspiracy 
and  treacherous  hostilities  against  coun-  ( 
tries  with  which  we  were  at  peace;  and  to 
lose  no  opportunity  of  mobilizing  the  privi- 
leges granted  by  "these  idiotic  Yankees'^ 
(quotation  from  the  miUtary  attache  of  the 
Imperial  German  Embassy  at  Washing- 
ton)— including,  of  course,  the  diplomatic 
privilege — to  make  America  unconsciously 
help  in  playing  the  game  of  the  Potsdam 
gang.  _ 

The   second   of   these   offenses   was   the  / 
illegal,  piratical  submarine  warfare  which  ) 
the    Potsdam    gang    ordered    and    waged    j 
against    the    merchant    shipping    of    the 
world,   thereby   destroying  the   lives   and 
the    property    of    American    citizens    and 
violating  the  most  vital  principle  of  our 
steadfast  contention  for  the  freedom  of 
the  sea. 

The  message  of  the  President  to  Congress 
on  April  2,  1917,  marked  these  two  offenses 
as  the  main  causes  which  made  it  impos- 

[159] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

sible  for  the  United  States  to  maintain 
longer  an  official  attitude  of  neutrality 
toward  the  German  Government,  which 
"did  what  it  pleased  and  told  its  people 
nothing."  The  President  generously  de- 
clared that  the  source  of  these  offenses 
"lay  not  in  any  hostile  feeling  or  purpose 
of  the  German  people  toward  us."  That 
was  a  magnanimous  declaration,  and  we 
sincerely  hope  it  may  prove  true. 

But  practically  the  difficulty  lies  in  the  fact 
that  at  the  present  hour  several  millions  of  the 
German  people  stand  in  arms,  on  land  that 
does  not  belong  to  them,  to  maintain  the  pur- 
pose and  continue  the  practices  of  the  Potsdam 
gang.  It  is  a  pity,  hut  it  is  trv£.  The  only 
way  to  get  at  the  gang  which  chose  and  forced 
this  atrocious  war  is  to  go  through  the  armed 
people  who  still  defend  that  choice  and  the 
atrocities  which  have  emphasized  it. 

Forgiveness  must  wait  upon  repentance. 
Repentance  must  be  proved  by  restitution 
and  reparation.   Any  other  settlement  of 
^  ^     \  this    world    conflict    would    be    a    world 

[160] 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

calamity.  For  America  and  for  all  the 
Allies  who  are  fighting  for  a  peace  worth 
having  and  keeping,  the  watchword  must 
be:  Standfast,  ye  free  ! 

n 

The  offenses  against  the  neutrality  of 
the  United  States  which  were  instigated 
and  financed  by  the  Potsdam  gang  were 
enumerated  by  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Affairs  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
the  first  week  of  April,  1917,  and  amounted 
to  at  least  twenty-one  distinct  crimes  or 
unfriendly  acts,  including  the  furnishing 
of  bogus  passports  to  German  reservists 
and  spies,  the  incitement  of  rebelKon  in 
India  and  in  Mexico,  the  preparation  of 
dynamite  outrages  against  Canada,  the 
placing  of  bombs  in  ships  saiHng  from 
American  ports,  and  many  other  ill-judged 
pleasantries  of  a  similar  character. 

The  crown  was  put  on  this  series  of 
blundering  misdeeds  by  the  note  of  Jan- 
uary 19,  1917,  sent  from  the  German  For- 

[161] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

eign  Office  (under  cover  of  our  diplomatic 
privilege,  of  course)  to  the  German  Min- 
ister in  Mexico,  directing  him  to  prepare 
an  alliance  with  that  country  against  the 
United  States  in  the  event  of  war,  urging 
him  to  use  Mexico  as  an  agent  to  draw 
Japan  into  that  alliance,  and  offering  as 
a  bribe  to  the  Mexicans  the  possession  of 
American  territory  in  Texas,  New  Mexico, 
and  Arizona.  (See  War  Message  and  Facts 
Behind  It,  p.  13.  Pubhshed  by  the  Com- 
mittee on  PubHc  Information,  Washington, 
Government  Printing  Office,  1917.) 

The  fact  is,  we  have  only  just  begun  to 
understand  the  real  nature  of  the  German 
secret  service,  which  works  with,  and  either 
under  or  over,  the  diplomatic  service. 

It  is  certainly  the  most  highly  organized, 
systematic,  and  expensive,  and  at  the 
same  time  probably  the  most  bone-headed 
and  unscrupulous,  secret  service  in  the 
world. 

Its  powers  of  falsification  and  evasion 
are    only    exceeded    by    its    capacity    for 

[162] 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

making  those  mistakes  which  spring  from 
a  congenital  contempt  for  other  people. 

At  The  Hague  I  had  numerous  oppor- 
tunities of  observing  and  noting  the  work- 
ings of  this  peculiar  system.  The  story  of 
many  of  them  cannot  be  publicly  told 
without  violating  that  reserve  which  I 
prefer  to  maintain  in  regard  to  confiden- 
tial communications  and  private  affairs 
in  which  the  personal  reputation  of  in- 
dividuals is  involved.  But  there  are  two 
or  three  experiences  of  which  I  may  write 
freely  without  incurring  either  self-reproach 
or  a  just  reproach  from  others.  They  are 
not  at  all  sensational.  But  they  seemed 
at  the  time,  and  they  seem  still,  to  have 
a  certain  significance  as  indications  of  the 
psychology  of  the  people  with  whom  we 
were  then  in  nominal  friendship. 

Three  requests  were  made  to  me  for  the 
forwarding  of  important  communications 
to  Brussels  under  cover  of  the  diplomatic 
privilege  of  the  American  Legation.  The 
memoranda  of  the  dates  and  so  on  are  in 

1163] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

the  Chancellery  at  The  Hague,  so  I  cannot 
refer  to  them.  But  it  is  certain  that  the 
requests  came  shortly  after  the  beginning 
of  the  war,  in  the  first  or  second  week  of 
August,  1914,  and  the  content  and  pur- 
port of  them  are  absolutely  clear  in  my 
memory. 

The  first  request  was  from  Berlin  for  the 
transmission  of  a  note  to  the  Belgian  Gov- 
ernment, renewing  the  proposition  which 
the  Potsdam  gang  had  made  on  August 
2:  namely,  that  Belgium  should  permit  the 
free  passage  of  German  troops  through  her 
neutral  ground  on  condition  that  Germany 
would  pay  for  all  damage  done  and  that 
Belgian  territory  would  not  be  annexed. 
{Of,  Dip.  Doc,  p.  402.)  King  Albert  had 
already  rephed,  on  August  3,  to  this  prop- 
osition, saying  that  to  permit  such  a  pas- 
sage of  hostile  troops  against  France  would 
be  "a  flagrant  violation  of  international 
law'*  and  would  "sacrifice  the  honor  of 
the  nation."  {Of.  Dip.  Doc,  p.  421.)  After 
such  an  answer  it  did  not  seem  to  me  that 

[164] 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

the  renewal  of  the  dishonorable  proposal 
was  likely  to  have  a  good  effect.  Yet  the 
BerKn  note  was  entirely  correct  in  form. 
It  merely  offered  a  chance  for  Belgium  to 
choose  again  between  peace  with  the  friend- 
ship of  Germany  and  dishonor  attached, 
and  war  in  defense  of  the  neutrahty  to 
which  she  was  bound  by  the  very  treaties 
(1831,  1839)  which  brought  her  into  being. 
I  had  no  right  to  interpose  an  obstacle  to 
the  repetition  of  Belgium's  first  heroic 
choice.  I  pointed  out  that,  not  being  ac- 
credited to  the  Belgian  Government,  I 
was  not  in  a  position  to  transmit  any 
communication  to  it.  But  I  was  willing  to 
forward  the  note  to  my  colleague  the  Amer- 
ican Minister  in  Brussels,  absolutely  with- 
out recommendation,  but  simply  for  such 
disposal  as  he  thought  fit.  Accordingly  the 
note  was  transmitted  to  him.* 

What  Whitlock  did  with  it  I  do  not  know. 
What  answer,  if  any,  Belgium  made  I  do 

*  My  colleague.  Honorable  James  W-  Gerard,  Ex-Ambassador 
to  Germany,  has  referred  to  this  in  his  very  interesting  book. 
My  Four  Years  in  Germany,  p.  136.  < 

[165] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

not  know.  But  I  do  know  that  she  stood 
to  her  guns  and  kept  her  honor  intact  and 
immortal. 

The  second  request  was  of  a  different 
quahty.  It  came  to  me  from  the  Imperial 
German  Legation  at  The  Hague.  It  was 
a  note  for  transmission  to  the  Belgian 
Government,  beginning  with  a  reference 
to  the  fall  of  Liege  and  the  hopeless  folly 
of  attempting  to  resist  the  German  in- 
vasion, and  continuing  with  an  intimation 
of  the  terrible  consequences  which  would 
follow  Belgium's  persistence  in  her  mad 
idea  of  keeping  her  word  of  honor.  In  effect 
the  note  was  a  curious  combination  of  an 
insult  and  a  threat.  I  promptly  and  posi- 
tively refused  to  transmit  it  or  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  it. 

"But  why,"  said  the  German  counsellor, 
sitting  by  my  study  fire — a  Prussian  of 
the  Prussians — "why  do  you  refuse  .^^  You 
are  a  neutral,  a  friend  of  both  parties.  Why 
not  simply  transmit  the  note  to  your  col- 
league in  Brussels  as  you  did  before?  You 

[166] 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

are  not  in  any  way  responsible  for  its  con- 
tents." 

"Quite  so,"  I  answered,  "and  thank  God 
for  that!  But  suppose  you  had  a  quarrel 
with  a  neighbor  in  the  Rheinland,  who  had 
positively  declined  a  proposition  which 
you  had  made  to  him.  And  suppose,  the 
ordinary  post-boy  services  being  inter- 
rupted, you  asked  me  to  convey  to  your 
neighbor  a  note  which  began  by  addressing 
him  as  a  *  silly  s —  of  a  b — ,'  and  ended  by 
telKng  him  that  if  he  did  not  agree  you 
would  certainly  grind  him  to  powder. 
Would  you  expect  me  to  play  the  post- 
boy for  such  a  billet-doux  on  the  ground 
that  I  was  not  responsible  for  its  contents 
and  was  a  friend  of  both  parties.^" 

"Well,"  rephed  the  counsellor,  laughing 
at  the  North  American  directness  of  my 
language,  "probably  not."  So  he  folded 
up  the  note  and  took  it  away.  What  be- 
came of  it  I  do  not  know  nor  care. 

The  third  request  was  of  still  another 
quality.  It  came  from  the  Imperial  Austro- 

[167] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

Hungarian  Legation,  which  very  politely- 
asked  me  to  transmit  a  message  in  the 
American  diplomatic  code  to  my  colleague 
in  Brussels  for  delivery  to  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  Legation,  which  still  lingered 
in  that  city.  The  first  and  last  parts  of 
the  message  were  in  plain  language,  good 
English,  quite  innocent  and  proper.  But 
the  kernel  of  the  despatch  was  written  in  the 
numerical  secret  cipher  of  Vienna,  which  of 
course  I  was  unable  to  read.  I  drew  atten- 
tion to  this,  and  asked  mildly  how  I  could 
be  expected  to  put  this  passage  into  our 
code  without  knowing  what  the  words 
were.  The  answer  was  that  it  would  not 
be  necessary  to  code  this  passage;  it  could 
be  transmitted  in  numbers  just  as  it  stood; 
the  Austro-Hungarian  charge  d'affaires  at 
Brussels  would  understand  it. 

"Quite  so,"  I  answered,  "but  you  see  the 
point  is  that  I  do  not  understand  it.  My 
dear  count,  you  are  my  very  good  friend, 
and  it  grieves  me  deeply  to  decKne  any 
requests  of  yours.  But  the  simple  fact  is 

[1681 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

that  our  instructions  explicitly  forbid  us 
to  send  any  message  in  two  codes. ''^ 

The  count — who,  by  the  way,  was  an 
excellent  and  most  amiable  man — ^blushed 
and  stammered  that  he  was  only  carrying 
out  the  instructions  of  his  chief,  but  that 
my  point  was  perfectly  clear  and  indis- 
putable. I  was  glad  that  he  saw  it  in  that 
light,  and  we  parted  on  the  most  friendly 
terms.  What  became  of  the  message  I  do 
not  know  nor  care. 

It  was  about  the  1st  of  September,  1915, 
that  I  came  into  brief  contact  with  the 
case  of  Mr.  J.  F.  J.  Archibald.  This  gen- 
tleman was  an  American  journalist,  and 
a  very  clever  and  agreeable  man.  We  had 
met  some  months  before,  when  he  was  on 
his  way  back  to  America  from  his  pro- 
fessional work  in  Germany,  and  he  had 
been  a  welcome  guest  at  my  table.  But 
the  second  meeting  was  different. 

This  time  Mr.  Archibald  was  returning 
toward  Germany  on  the  Holland-America 
steamship     Rotterdam.     When     the     boat 

[169] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

touched  at  Falmouth,  on  August  30,  the 
British  authorities  examined  his  luggage 
and  found  that  he  was  carrying  private 
letters  and  official  despatches  from  Doctor 
Dumba  the  Austrian  Ambassador  at  Wash- 
ington, from  Count  Bernstorff  the  German 
Ambassador,  and  from  Captain  von  Papen 
his  mihtary  attache.  Not  only  was  the 
carrying  of  these  letters  by  a  private  person 
on  a  regular  mail  route  a  recognized  offense 
against  the  law,  but  the  documents  them- 
selves contained  matter  of  an  incriminat- 
ing and  seditious  nature,  most  unfriendly 
to  the  United  States.  The  egregious  Doctor 
Dumba,  for  example,  described  how  it 
would  be  possible  to  "disorganize  and 
hold  up  for  months  if  not  entirely  pre- 
vent," the  work  of  American  factories; 
and  the  colossal  Captain  von  Papen,  in  a 
letter  referring  to  the  activities  of  German 
secret  agents  in  America,  gave  birth  to 
his  eloquent  and  unforgettable  phrase, 
"these  idiotic  Yankees."  The  papers,  of 
course,   were   taken   from   Mr.   Archibald 

[1701 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

at  Falmouth,  but  he  was  allowed  to  con- 
tinue his  voyage  to  Rotterdam  en  route 
for  Berlin. 

Before  his  arrival,  however,  a  cablegram 
came  from  the  Department  of  State  at 
Washington  instructing  me  to  take  up  his 
regular  passport  which  was  made  out  to 
cover  travel  in  Germany;  to  give  him  an 
emergency  passport  vaUd  for  one  month 
and  good  only  for  the  return  to  the  United 
States;  and  to  use  all  proper  means  to  get 
him  back  to  New  York  at  the  earHest  pos- 
sible date. 

Having  found  out  that  he  was  lodged  at 
a  certain  hotel  I  sent  him  a  courteous  in- 
vitation to  call  at  the  Legation  on  business 
of  importance.  He  came  promptly  and  we 
sat  down  in  the  library  for  a  conversation 
which  you  will  admit  had  its  deUcate 
points. 

He  began  by  saying  that  he  supposed  I 

had  seen  the  newspaper  accounts  of  what 

happened  to  him  at  Falmouth;  that  he 

was  greatly  surprised  and  chagrined  about 

[1711 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

the  matter;  that  he  had  been  entirely  ig- 
norant of  the  contents  of  the  documents 
found  in  his  possession;  that  he  had 
imagined — indeed  he  had  been  distinctly 
told — that  they  were  innocent  private 
letters  relating  to  personal  and  domestic 
affairs;  that  he  did  not  know  there  was 
any  impropriety  in  conveying  such  letters; 
that  if  he  had  suspected  their  nature  or 
known  that  they  included  official  des- 
patches he  would  never  have  taken  them. 

I  replied  that  his  personal  statement  was 
enough  for  me  on  that  point,  but  that  it 
seemed  to  throw  rather  a  dark  shadow  on 
the  character  and  conduct  of  his  friends  in 
the  German  and  Austrian  Embassies  who 
had  knowingly  exposed  his  innocence  to 
such  a  risk,  I  added  that  it  was  probably 
with  a  view  to  obtaining  his  help  in  clear- 
ing up  the  matter  that  the  Department 
of  State  had  instructed  me  to  take  up  his 
passport. 

"But  have  you  the  legal  right  to  do 
that.?>" 

[172] 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

"Under  American  law,  yes,  un question- 
ably." 

"But  under  Dutch  law?" 

"Probably  not.  But  I  hope  it  will  not  be 
necessary  to  invoke  that  law.  Simply  to 
inform  the  Dutch  Foreign  Minister  of  the 
presence  of  an  American  whose  passport 
had  been  revoked  but  who  refused  to  give 
it  up,  would  be  sufficient  for  my  purpose." 

He  reflected  for  a  moment,  and  then 
said,  smiling: 

"I  don't  refuse  to  give  it  up.  Here  it  is. 
Now  tell  me  what  I  shall  do  without  a 
passport." 

"Thank  you.  Fortunately  I  have  au- 
thority to  give  you  an  emergency  pass- 
port, good  for  a  month,  and  covering  the 
return  voyage  to  America." 

"But  I  don't  want  to  go  there.  I  want 
to  go  on  to  Berlin." 

"Unfortunately  I  fear  that  will  be  im- 
possible. Your  old  passport  is  invahd  and 
will  not  carry  you  over  the  Dutch  border. 
Your  new  passport  cannot  be  made  out 
11731 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

for  Germany.  Your  best  course  is  to  re- 
turn home." 

"I  see.  But  have  you  any  right  to  arrest 
me  and  send  me  to  America?" 

"None  whatever,  my  dear  sir.  Please 
don't  misunderstand  me.  This  is  just  a 
bit  of  friendly  advice.  'Your  country  needs 
you.*  You  naturally  want  an  eariy  chance 
to  tell  Washington  what  you  have  told 
me.  The  Rotterdam  is  a  very  comfortable 
ship,  and  she  sails  for  New  York  the  day 
after  to-morrow.  I  have  already  bespoken  an 
excellent  room  for  you.  Do  you  accept?" 

"Yes,  and  thank  you  for  the  way  you 
have  put  the  matter.  But  do  you  think 
they  will  arrest  me  when  I  get  to  New 
York?" 

"Probably  not.  But  to  help  in  forestall- 
ing that  unpleasant  possibiUty  I  will  cable 
Washington  that  you  are  coming  at  once, 
of  your  own  free  will,  and  anxious  to  tell 
the  whole  story." 

So  he  went,  and  I  saw  him  off  on  the 
Rotterdam,  a  palhd  and  downcast  figure. 
[174] 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

I  pitied  him.  It  seemed  strange  that  any 
one  should  ever  trust  that  unscrupulous, 
callous,  thick-pated  diplomatic-secret-ser- 
vice machine  which  is  always  ready  to 
expose  a  too  confiding  and  admiring  friend 
to  danger  or  disgrace  in  order  to  serve  its 
imperious  necessities. 

Holland,  of  course,  owing  to  its  geograph- 
ical situation,  was  a  regular  nest  of  German 
espionage.  Other  spies  were  there,  too,  but 
they  were  much  less  in  evidence  than  the 
Germans.  Of  the  tricks  and  the  manners 
of  the  latter  I  had  some  picturesque  ex- 
periences which  I  do  not  feel  at  hberty  to 
narrate.  The  Department  of  State  has 
been  informed  of  them,  and  has  no  doubt 
put  the  information  safely  away  with  a 
lot  of  other  things  which  it  knows  but  does 
not  think  it  expedient  or  necessary  to  tell 
until  the  proper  time. 

But  there  is  no  reason  why  the  simple 
little  tale  of  the  futile  attempt  to  plant 
two  German  spies  in  my  household  at  The 
Hague  should  not  be  told.  One  of  the  men 

[175] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

in  our  domestic  service,  a  Hollander,  had 
been  obliged  to  leave  and  we  wanted  to 
fill  his  place.  This  was  diflScult  because  the 
requirements  of  the  Dutch  army  service 
claimed  such  a  large  number  of  the  younger 
men. 

The  first  who  applied  for  the  vacant  place 
professed  to  be  a  Belgian.  Perhaps  he  was. 
On  demand  he  produced  his  *' papers" — 
birth-certificate,  baptismal  registry,  several 
Passier-scheiney  and  so  forth.  But  down  in 
a  comer  on  the  back  of  one  of  the  papers 
was  a  dim  blue  stamp — ^* Imperial  German 
Marine."  What  was  the  meaning  of  this? 
What  had  the  Potsdam  High-Sea  Fleet 
to  do  with  this  peaceable  overland  traveller 
from  Belgium.''  Voluble  excuses,  but  no 
satisfactory  explanation.  I  told  him  that 
I  feared  he  was  too  experienced  for  the 
place. 

The  second  who  appHed  was  an  unques- 
tionable Dutchman,  young,  good-looking, 
intelligent.  Papers  in  perfect  order.  Pres- 
ent service  with  a  well-known  pro-German 

[1761 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

family.  Previous  service  of  one  year  with 
a  lady  who  was  one  of  my  best  friends — 
the  wife  of  a  high  government  oflScial.  I 
rang  her  up  on  the  telephone  and  asked 
if  she  could  tell  me  anything  about  A.  B., 
who  had  been  in  service  with  her  for  a 
year.  A  second  of  silence,  then  the  answer: 
"Yes,  a  good  deal,  but  not  on  the  tele- 
phone, please.  Come  around  to  tea  this 
afternoon."  Madame  L.  then  told  me  that 
while  the  young  man  was  clean,  sober,  and 
industrious,  he  had  been  found  rummaging 
among  her  husband's  official  papers,  in  a 
room  which  he  was  forbidden  to  enter, 
and  had  been  caught  several  times  hsten- 
ing  at  the  keyhole  of  doors  while  private 
conferences  were  going  on. 

It  seemed  to  me  that  a  young  man  with 
such  an  uncontrollable  thirst  for  knowledge 
would  not  be  suited  for  the  very  simple 
service  which  would  be  required  of  him  in 
our  household. 

Afterward,  traces  of  both  of  these  men 
were  found  which  led  unmistakably  to 
[177] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

the  lair  of  the  chief  spider  of  the  German 
secret  service  at  The  Hague.  The  incident 
was  a  very  small  one.  But,  after  all,  hfe 
is  made  up  of  small  incidents  with  a  con- 
nected meaning. 

At  the  time  when  I  am  writing  this  (Sep- 
tember 24,  1917)  the  moral  character  of 
the  tools  of  the  Potsdam  gang  has  again 
been  stripped  naked  by  the  disclosure  of 
the  treachery  by  which  the  German  Lega- 
tion in  Argentina  has  utilized  the  Swedish 
Legation  in  that  country  to  transmit, 
under  diplomatic  privilege,  messages  in- 
citing to  murder  on  the  high  seas.  Ar- 
gentina has  already  taken  the  action  to 
be  expected  from  an  American  Republic 
by  dismissing  the  German  Minister. 
What  Sweden  will  do  to  vindicate  her 
honor  remains  to  be  seen.  Her  attitude 
may  affect  our  opinion  of  her  as  a  victim 
or  a  vassal  of  Potsdam. 

There  are  two  points  in  the  disclosures 
made   on   September  23   by   the  Depart- 

[1781 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

ment  of  State  which  bear  directly  upon 
this  simple  narrative  of  experiences  at 
The  Hague. 

The  fetching  female  comic-opera  star, 
Ray  Beveridge,  discreetly  alluded  to  in 
the  third  chapter  (p.  71),  was  secretly 
paid  three  thousand  dollars  by  the  Im- 
perial German  Embassy  in  Washington 
to  finance  her  artistic  activities.  So,  you 
see,  I  was  not  far  wrong  in  forwarding  her 
divorce  papers  to  Germany  and  refusing 
to  transmit  her  newspaper  correspondence 
to  America.  She  was  a  paid  soubrette  in 
the  Potsdam  troupe. 

The  affable  and  intelligent  Mr.  Archi- 
bald, alluded  to  in  this  chapter  (p.  169), 
received  on  April  21,  1915,  according  to 
these  disclosures,  five  thousand  dollars 
from  the  Imperial  German  Embassy  in 
Washington  for  "propaganda"  services. 
If  I  had  known  this  when  he  came  to  me 
in  September,  it  is  possible  that  I  should 
have  been  less  careful  to  spare  his  feel- 
ings. 

[179] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

III 

The  record  of  the  German  submarine 
warfare  on  merchant  shipping  is  one  of 
the  most  extraordinary  chapters  in  his- 
tory. Americans  have  read  it  with  ap- 
propriate indignation,  but  not  always  with 
clear  understanding  of  the  precise  issues 
involved.  Let  me  try  to  make  those  issues 
plain,  since  the  submarine  campaign  was 
one  of  the  causes  which  forced  this  war 
upon  the  United  States.  (President's  Mes- 
sage to  Congress,  April  2,  1917,  para- 
graphs 2-10.) 

In  war  all  naval  vessels,  including  of 
course  submarines,  have  the  right  to  at- 
tack and  destroy,  by  any  means  in  their 
power,  any  war-ship  of  the  enemy.  In 
regard  to  merchant-ships  the  case  is  dif- 
ferent, according  to  international  law. 
(See  G.  G.  Wilson,  International  Law, 
§§114,  136,  New  York,  1901-1909.) 

The  war- vessel  has  the  right  of  "visit 
and  search"  on  all  merchant-ships,  enemy 
[1801 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

or  neutral.  It  has  also  the  right,  in  case 
the  cargo  of  the  merchant-ship  appears  to 
include  more  than  a  certain  percentage  of 
contraband,  to  capture  it  and  take  it  into 
a  port  for  adjudication  as  a  prize.  The 
war-vessel  has  also  the  right  to  sink  a 
presumptive  prize  under  conditions  (such 
as  distance,  stress  of  weather,  and  so  forth) 
which  make  it  impossible  to  take  it  into 
port. 

But  here  the  right  of  the  war-vessel 
stops.  It  has  absolutely  no  right  to  sink  the 
merchant-ship  without  warning  and  with- 
out making  efficient  provision  far  the  safety 
of  the  passengers  and  crew.  That  is  the 
common  law  of  civiHzed  nations.  To  break 
it  is  to  put  one's  self  beyond  the  pale. 

Some  Germanophile  critics  have  faulted 
me  for  calling  the  Teutonic  submarines 
"Potsdam  pirates."  A  commissioned  vessel, 
these  critics  say,  which  merely  executes 
the  orders  of  its  government,  cannot 
properly  be  called  a  pirate. 

Why  not.'^  Take  the  definition  of  piracy 
[1811 


^\ 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

given    in    the    New    Oxford    Dictionary: 
"The  crime  of  robbery  or  depredation  on 
the  sea  by  persons  not  holding  a  commis- 
sion from  an  established  civilized  state.'* 
\     There's    the   point!   Is   a   nation   which 
orders  its  servants  to  commit  deeds  for- 
^j  y  y  bidden    by    international    law,    a    nation 
which  commands  its  naval  officers  to  com- 
mit deliberate,  wanton,  dastardly  murder 
on  the  high  seas  (case  of  Belgian  Prince, 
July  31,  1917,  and  others),  is  such  a  na- 
tion to  be   regarded   as   "an  established 
\civilized  state"? 

Were  Algiers  and  Tunis  and  Tripoli 
"civiUzed  states"  when  they  sent  out 
the  Barbary  pirates  in  the  eighteenth  and 
early  nineteenth  centuries?  We  thought 
not,  and  we  sent  our  war-ships  to  whip 
the  barbarism  out  of  them. 

Commodore  Stephen  Decatur,  in  1815, 
forced  the  cruel  and  cowardly  Dey  of 
Algiers  to  sign  a  deed  of  renunciation  and 
a  promise  of  good  conduct,  on  the  deck 
of  an  American  frigate,  under  the  Stars 
and  Stripes. 

[182] 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

A  hundred  years  ago  the  glory  of  the 
American  navy  was  made  clear  to  the 
world  in  the  suppression  of  the  pirates  of 
North  Africa.  To-day  that  glory  must 
be  maintained  by  firm,  fearless,  unrelent- 
ing war  against  the  pirates  of  North  Ger- 
many. 

A  commission  to  do  a  certain  thing  which 
is  in  itself  unlawful  does  not  change  the 
nature  of  the  misdeed.  No  nation  has  a 
right  to  commission  its  oflScers  to  violate 
the  law  of  nations. 

But  the  Germans  say  their  submarines 
are  such  wonderful,  delicate,  scientific  ma- 
chines that  it  is  impossible  for  them  to 
give  warning  of  an  attack,  or  to  do  any- 
thing to  save  the  helpless  people  whose 
peaceful  vessel  has  been  sunk  beneath 
their  feet.  The  precious,  fragile  submarine 
cannot  be  expected  to  observe  any  law 
of  humanity  which  would  imperil  its  further 
usefulness  as  an  instrument  of  destruc- 
tion. 

Marvellous  argument — worthy  of  the 
Potsdam  mind  in  its  highest  state  of  Kul- 

[183] 


^  )      ^    /^v'         FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

/  {    tur !  By  the  same  reasoning  any  assassin 
^    \     might  claim  the  right  to  kill  without  re- 
sistance because  he  proposed  to  commit 
J  .        the    crime    with    a    dagger    so    delicately 
V         wrought,    so    frail,    so    slender,    that    the 
slightest  struggle  on  the  part  of  his  victim 
would   break   the  costly,   beautiful,   mur- 
^  derous  weapon. 

Again,  these  extraordinary  Germans  say 
that  merchant-ships  ought  not  to  carry 
weapons  for  defense;  it  is  too  dangerous 
for  the  dainty  U-boat;  every  merchant- 
man thus  armed  must  be  treated  as  a 
vessel  of  war.  But  the  law  of  nations  for 
more  than  two  centuries  has  sanctioned 
the  carrying  of  defensive  armament  by 
merchant-ships,  and  precisely  because  they 
might  need  it  to  protect  themselves  against 
pirates. 

^  Shall  the  United  States  be  asked  to  re- 
write this  article  of  international  law,  in 
the  midst  of  a  great  war  on  sea  and  land? 
Shall  the  government  at  Washington  be 
seduced    by    cajolery,    or    compelled    by 

[184] 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

threats,  to  rob  the  merchantmen  of  the 
poor  protection  of  a  single  gun  in  order 
that  they  may  fall  absolutely  helpless 
into  the  black  hands  of  the  prowling  Pots- 
dam pirates?  That  would  be  neutrality 
with  a  vengeance!  Yet  that  is  just  what 
the  Imperial  German  Government  tried 
to  persuade  or  force  the  United  States 
to  do.  Thank  God  the  effort  was  vain. 

These  were  the  matters  under  discus- 
sion when  I  was  called  to  Washington  in 
February,  1916,  for  consultation  with  the 
President.  The  long  and  wearing  con- 
troversy had  been  going  on  for  months. 
Every  month  notes  were  coming  from 
Berhn,  each  more  evasive  and  unsatis- 
factory than  the  last.  Every  week  Count 
Bernstorff  and  his  aides  were  coming  to 
the  State  Department  with  new  excuses, 
new  subterfuges,  and  the  same  old  lies. 
The  President  and  Secretary  Lansing,  both 
of  whom  are  excellent  international  lawyers, 
found  their  patience  tried  to  the  utter- 
most by  the  absurdity  of  the  arguments 

[185] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

presented  to  them  and  by  the  veiled  con- 
tempt in  the  manner  of  the  presentation. 
But  they  kept  their  tempers  and  did  their 
best  to  keep  the  peace. 

On  two  points  they  were  firm  as  adamant. 
First,  the  law  of  nations  should  not  and 
could  not  be  changed  in  the  midst  of  a 
war  to  suit  the  need  of  one  of  the  parties. 
Second,  "the  use  of  submarines  for  the 
destruction  of  commerce  is  of  necessity, 
because  of  the  very  character  of  the  vessels 
employed  and  the  very  methods  of  attack 
which  their  employment  of  course  involves, 
incompatible  with  the  principles  of  hu- 
manity, the  long-estabHshed  and  incon- 
trovertible rights  of  neutrals,  and  the 
sacred  immunities  of  non-combatants.'* 
(President  Wilson's  Address  to  Congress, 
April  19,  1916.) 

It  was  on  my  return  from  this  visit  to 
Washington  that  I  had  an  opportunity 
of  observing  at  close  range  the  crooked 
methods  of  the  Potsdam  gang  in  regard 
to  the  U-boat  warfare.  Arriving  at  The 

[186] 


STAND  FAST.  YE  FREE! 

Hague  on  March  24,  1916,  I  found  Hol- 
land aflame  with  helpless  rage  over  the 
recent  sinking  of  the  S.S.  Tubardia,  the 
newest  and  best  boat  of  the  Netherlands- 
Lloyd  merchant-fleet.  She  was  torpedoed 
by  an  imseen  submarine  on  March  15. 

An  explanation  was  promptly  demanded 
from  the  German  Government,  which 
denied  any  knowledge  of  the  affair.  Hol- 
land, lacking  evidence  as  to  the  perpetrator 
of  the  crime,  would  have  had  to  swallow 
this  denial  but  for  an  accident  which  fur- 
nished her  with  the  missing  proof.  One  of 
the  Tubantia*s  small  boats  drifted  ashore. 
In  the  boat  was  a  fragment  of  a  Schwarz- 
kopf torpedo — sl  type  manufactured  and 
used  only  by  Germany.  This  fragment 
was  forwarded  to  Berlin,  with  another 
and  more  urgent  demand  for  explanation, 
apology,  and  reparation. 

The  German  newspapers  coolly  replied 
with  the  astounding  statement  that  there 
had  been  two  or  three  Schwarzkopf  tor- 
pedoes in  naval  museums  in  England,  and 

[187] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

that  this  particular  specimen  had  proba- 
bly been  given  to  a  British  submarine  and 
used  by  her  to  destroy  the  good  ship  Tu- 
bantia. 

Again  Holland  would  have  been  left 
helpless,  choking  with  indignation,  but 
for  a  second  accident.  Another  of  the 
lost  steamship's  boats  was  found,  and  in 
it  there  was  another  fragment  of  the  tor- 
pedo. This  fragment  bore  the  mark  of  the 
German  navy,  telling  just  when  the  torpedo 
was  made  and  to  which  of  the  TJ -boats  it  had 
been  issued. 

With  this  bit  of  damning  evidence  in 
his  bag  a  Dutch  naval  expert  was  sent  to 
Berhn  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  the  crime 
and  to  demand  justice.  He  got  there,  but 
he  found  no  justice  in  that  shop. 

The  German  navy  is  very  systematic, 
keeps  accurate  books,  makes  no  accidental 
mistake.  The  pedigree  and  record  of  the 
Schwarzkopf  were  found.  It  was  issued  to 
a  certain  U-boat  on  a  certain  date.  Un- 
doubtedly it  was  the  missile  which  unfor- 

[188] 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

tunately  sank  the  Tubantia.  All  this  was 
admitted  and  deeply  regretted.  But  Ger- 
many was  free  from  all  responsibihty  for 
the  sad  occurrence.  The  following  amazing 
reason  was  given  by  the  Imperial  German 
Government. 

This  certain  U-boat  had  fired  this  cer- 
tain torpedo  at  a  British  war-vessel  some- 
where in  the  North  Sea  ten  days  before 
the  Tubantia  was  sunk.  The  shot  missed 
its  mark.  But  the  naughty,  undisciplined 
little  torpedo  went  cruising  around  in  the 
sea  on  its  own  hook  for  ten  days  waiting 
for  a  chance  to  kill  somebody.  Then  the 
Tubantia  came  along,  and  the  wandering- 
Willy  torpedo  promptly,  stupidly,  ran  into 
the  ship  and  sank  her.  This  was  the  ex- 
planation. Germany  was  not  to  blame. 
(See  the  official  report  in  the  Orange  Books 
of  the  Netherlands  Government,  July,  1916, 
December,  1916.) 

This  stupendous  fairy-tale  Holland  was 
expected  to  believe  and  to  accept  as  the 
end  of  the  affair.  She  did  not  beheve  it. 

[189] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

She  had  to  accept  it.  What  else  could  she 
do?  Fight?  She  did  not  want  to  share 
Belgium's  dreadful  fate.  The  Dutch  Govern- 
ment proposed  that  the  whole  Tuhantia  in- 
cident be  submitted  to  an  international 
commission.  The  German  Government  ac- 
cepted this  proposal  en  principey  but  said 
it  must  be  deferred  until  after  the  war. 

I  wonder  why  some  of  the  Americans 
who  blame  Holland  for  not  being  in  arms 
against  Germany  never  think  of  that  stern 
and  awful  deterrent  which  stands  under 
her  eyes  and  presses  upon  her  very  bosom. 
She  is  still  independent,  still  neutral,  still 
unravaged.  Five-sixths  of  her  people,  I 
beUeve,  have  no  sympathy  with  the  Ger- 
man Government  in  its  choice  and  con- 
duct of  this  war.  At  least  this  was  the  case 
while  I  was  at  The  Hague.  But  the  one 
thing  that  Holland  is,  above  all  else,  is 
pro-Dutch.  She  wants  to  keep  her  Kberty, 
her  sovereignty,  her  land  untouched.  To 
defend  these  treasures  she  will  fight,  and 
for  no  other  reason.  I  have  heard  Queen 

[190] 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

Wilhelmina  say  this  a  score  of  times.  She 
means  it,  and  her  people  are  with  her. 

Seven  Dutch  ships  were  sunk  in  a  bunch 
in  the  EngUsh  Channel  by  the  Potsdam 
pirates  on  February  22,  1917.  Holland 
was  furious.  She  stated  her  grievance, 
protested,  remonstrated — and  there  she 
stopped.  If  she  had  tried  to  do  anything 
more  she  stood  to  lose  a  third  of  her  ter- 
ritory in  a  few  days  and  the  whole  in  a 
few  weeks — lose  it,  mark  you,  to  the  gang 
that  ruined  Belgium. 

But  the  position,  and  therefore  the  case, 
of  America  in  regard  to  the  German  sub- 
marine warfare  was  quite  different.  She 
was  one  of  the  eight  "Big  Powers"  of  the 
world.  She  was  the  mightiest  of  the 
neutrals. 

Her  rights  at  sea  were  no  greater  than 
theirs.  But  her  duties  were  greater,  just 
because  she  was  larger,  more  powerful, 
better  able  to  champion  those  rights  not 
only  for  herself  but  also  for  others. 

She  would  not  have  to  pay  such  an  in- 

[1911 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

stant,  awful,  crushing  penalty  for  armed 
resistance  to  the  brutalities  of  the  Potsdam 
gang  as  would  certainly  be  inflicted  upon 
the  Httle  northern  neutrals  if  they  at- 
tempted to  defend  themselves  against  in- 
justice and  aggression. 

Their  part  was  to  make  protest,  and  record 
it,  and  wait  for  justice  until  the  war  was 
ended.  America's  part  was  to  make  pro- 
test, and  then — ^her  protest  being  mocked, 
scorned,  disregarded — to  stand  up  in  arms 
with  France  and  Great  Britain  and  help 
to  end  the  war  by  a  victory  of  righteous 
peace. 

But  did  we  not  also  have  objections  to 
some  of  the  measures  and  actions  of  the 
British  blockade — as,  for  instance,  the  sei- 
zure and  search  of  the  mails.''  Certainly 
we  did,  and  Secretary  Lansing  stated  them 
clearly  and  maintained  them  firmly.  But 
here  is  the  difference.  These  objections 
concerned  only  the  rights  of  neutral  pro'perty 
on  the  high  seas.  We  knew  by  positive  as- 
surance from  England,  and  by  our  experi- 
1192 1 


STAND  FAST.  YE  FREE! 

ence  with  her  in  the  Alabama  Claims  Arbi- 
tration, that  she  was  ready  to  refer  all  such 
questions  to  an  impartial  tribunal  and 
abide  by  its  decision.  Our  objections  to 
the  conduct  of  the  German  navy  con- 
cerned the  far  more  sacred  rights  of  "life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness." 

The  murder  of  one  American  child  at  sea 
meant  more  to  us  than  the  seizure  of  a  thou- 
sand cargoes  of  alleged  contraband. 

No  one  has  ever  accused  the  British  or 
French  or  ItaUan  sailors  in  this  war  of 
sinking  merchant-ships  without  warning, 
leaving  their  crews  and  passengers  to 
drown.  On  the  contrary,  British  seamen 
have  risked  and  lost  their  Uves  in  a 
chivalrous  attempt  to  save  the  hves  even 
of  their  enemies  after  the  fair  sinking  of 
a  German  war-ship. 

But  the  hands  of  the  Potsdam  pirates 
are  red  with  innocent  blood.  The  bottom 
of  the  sea  is  strewn  with  the  wrecks  they 
have  made.  "The  dark  unfathom'd  caves 
of  ocean"  hide  the  bones  of  their  helpless 
[1931 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

victims,  who  shall  arise  at  the  judgment- 
day  to  testify  against  them. 

On  May  7,  1915,  the  passenger  liner 
Lusitaniay  unarmed,  was  sunk  without 
warning  by  a  German  U-boat  off  the 
Irish  coast.  One  hundred  and  fourteen 
Americans — men,  women,  and  little  chil- 
dren, lawful  and  peaceful  travellers — ^were 
drowned 

"Butchered  to  make  a  [Grerman]  holiday." 

The  hoUday  was  celebrated  in  Germany. 
The  schools  were  let  out.  The  soldiers 
in  the  reserve  camps  had  leave  to  join 
in  the  festivities.  The  towns  and  cities 
were  filled  with  fluttering  flags  and  sing- 
ing folks.  A  German  pastor  preached: 
"Whoever  cannot  bring  himself  to  ap- 
prove from  the  bottom  of  his  heart  the 
sinking  of  the  Lusitania — ^him  we  judge 
to  be  no  true  German.**  {Deutsche  Reden 
in  Schwerer  Zeit,  No.  24,  p.  7.)  A  medal 
was  struck  to  commemorate  the  great 
achievement.  It  is  a  very  ugly  medal.  I 

[194] 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

keep  a  copy  of  it  in  order  that  I  may  never 
forget  the  character  of  a  nation  which  was 
not  content  with  rejoicing  over  such  a 
crime  but  desired  to  immortahze  it  in 
bronze. 

The  three  strong  and  eloquent  notes  of 
President  Wilson  in  regard  to  the  Lusi- 
tania  are  too  well  known  to  be  quoted 
here.  The  practical  answer  from  Potsdam 
(passing  over  the  usual  subterfuges  and 
falsehoods)  was  the  sinking  of  the  Arabic 
August  19  and  the  murder  of  three  more 
Americans.  Then  the  correspondence  lan- 
guished until  the  torpedoing  (March  24, 
1916)  of  the  Sussex,  a  Channel  ferry-boat, 
crowded  with  passengers,  among  whom 
were  many  Americans.  Then  the  President 
sent  a  flat  message  caUing  down  the  Pots- 
dam pirates  and  declaring  that  unless 
they  abandoned  their  nefarious  practices 
"the  United  States  had  no  choice  but  to 
sever  diplomatic  relations  with  the  German 
Empire  altogether*'  (April  18,  1916). 

This  brought  a  grudging  promise  from 

[1951 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

Germany  that  she  would  henceforth  re- 
frain from  sinking  merchant-vessels  "with- 
out warning  and  without  saving  human 
lives,  unless  the  ship  attempted  to  escape 
or  offer  resistance."  How  this  promise 
was  kept  may  be  judged  from  the  sinking 
of  the  Marina  (October  28),  with  the  loss 
of  eight  American  lives,  and  of  the  Russian 
(December  14),  with  the,  loss  of  seventeen 
American  lives,  and  other  similar  sinkings. 
During  all  this  time  Germany  had  been 
building  new  and  larger  submarines  with 
wonderful  industry.  She  had  filled  up  her 
pack  of  sea- wolves.  On  January  31,  1917, 
she  revoked  her  flimsy  pledge,  let  loose 
her  wolf-pack,  and  sent  word  to  all  the 
neutral  nations  that  she  would  sink  at 
sight  all  ships  found  in  the  zones  which 
she  had  marked  "around  Great  Britain, 
France,  Italy,  and  in  the  Eastern  Med- 
iterranean." {Why  We  Are  at  War,  p. 
23,  New  York,  1917.)  The  President 
promptly  broke  off  diplomatic  relations 
(February   3),   and   said   that   we   should 

[1961 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

refrain  from  hostilities  until  the  commis- 
sion of  "actual  overt  acts"  by  Germany- 
forced  us  to  the  conviction  that  she  meant 
to  carry  out  her  base  threat. 

The  overt  acts  came  quickly.  Between 
February  3  and  April  1  eight  American 
merchant-ships  were  sunk,  and  more  than 
forty  American  lives  were  destroyed  by 
the  Potsdam  pirates. 

The  die  was  cast.  On  April  2,  1917,  the 
President  advised  Congress  that  the  United 
States  could  no  longer  delay  the  formal 
acceptance  of  "the  status  of  belhgerent 
which  had  been  thrust  upon  it."  On  April 
6  Congress  took  the  necessary  action.  On 
the  same  day  the  President  proclaimed 
that  "a  state  of  war  exists  between  the 
United  States  and  the  Imperial  German 
Government." 

Back  of  this  momentous  and  noble  de- 
cision, in  which  the  hearts  of  the  immense 
majority  of  Americans  are  with  the  Presi- 
dent, there  are  undoubtedly  many  strong 
and   righteous   reasons.    Some   of   these   I 

[197] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

have  tried  to  set  forth  in  the  first  part  of 
this    article.    But    we    must    never    forget 
that  the  specific  reason  given  by  the  Presi- 
dent, the  definite  cause  which  forced  us 
into  the  war,  is  the  German  method  of 
submarine  warfare,  which  he  has  repeatedly 
denounced  as  illegal,  immoral,  inhuman — 
a  direct  and  brutal  attack  upon  us  and 
upon  all  mankind.  These  words  cannot  be 
forgotten,  nor  is  it  Hkely  that  the  Presi- 
dent will  retract  them. 
They  set  up  at  least  one  steadfast  mark 
in  the  midst  of  the  present  flood  of  peace 
talk.  There  can  be  no  parley  with  a  criminal 
\  who  is  in  full  and  exultant  practice  of  his 
^      }  crime.   Unless   the   U-boat   warfare   is   re- 
01^    jnounced,  repented  of,  and  abandoned  by 
//I     /  the  Potsdam  pirates,  an  honorable  peace 
/    is   unattainable  except  by  fighting  for  it 
\    and  winning  it.* 

*  Belgian  Relief  ships  sunk :  S.S.  Camilla,  Tretier,  Feistein, 
Storstad,  Lar$  Knue,  Euphrates,  Haelen,  and  Tuni*  (the  last 
two  shelled  but  not  sunk). 

Hospital  ships  sunk:  Britannic  (probably  but  not  certainly 
torpedoed);  AHuriaa,  March  24,  1917;  Glouoester  Castle,  March 

[1981 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FBEE! 

IV 

Only  a  little  space  is  left  for  writing  of 
my  retirement  from  the  post  at  The  Hague 
and  my  experiences  thereafter  in  England 
and  France. 

The  reader  may  have  gathered  from  the 
tenor  of  these  chapters  that  the  work  at 
the  legation  was  hard  and  that  the  situa- 
tion was  trying  to  a  man  with  strong  con- 
victions and  the  habit  of  expressing  them 
frankly.  My  resignation  was  tendered  in 
September,  1916,  with  the  request  that  it 
should  not  be  made  pubKc  until  after  the 
re-election  of  President  Wilson,  which  I 
earnestly  desired  and  expected.  My  reasons 
for  resigning  were  partly  of  a  domestic 
nature.  But  the  main  reason  was  a  personal 
wish  to  get  back  to  my  work  as  a  writer, 
"with  full  freedom  to  say  what  I  thought 
and  felt  about  the  war." 

30;  Donegal,  April  17;  Lanfranc,  April  17  (with  British  wounded 
and  German  wounded  'prisoners). 
Among  the  neutral  nations  Norway  alone  has  lost  more  than 
six  himdred  ships  by  mines  and  torpedoes  of  German  origin. 
The  dance  of  death  still  goes  on. 

[199] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

The  German-American  press  has  tried 
to  start  a  rumor  that  I  was  recalled  to 
Washington  to  explain  my  action  on  a 
certain  point.  That  is  absolutely  and  en- 
tirely false.  The  government  never  asked 
for  an  explanation  of  anything  in  my 
conduct  while  in  oflfice,  or  afterward.  On 
the  contrary,  the  President  has  been  kind 
enough  to  express  his  approval  of  my 
services  in  terms  too  friendly  to  be  quoted 
here. 

In  November,  after  President  Wilson  had 
been  triumphantly  chosen  for  a  second 
term,  I  ventured  to  recall  his  attention 
to  my  letter  of  September.  He  answered 
that  he  would  "reluctantly  yield"  to  my 
wishes,  but  would  appreciate  my  remain- 
ing at  The  Hague  until  a  successor  could 
be  found  for  the  post.  Of  course  I  willingly 
agreed  to  this. 

In  December  the  name  of  this  successor 
was  cabled  to  me  with  instructions  to  find 
out  whether  he  would  be  acceptable  to  the 
Queen  and  the   Government  of  Holland. 

[2001 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

Her  Majesty  said  that  this  gentleman 
would  certainly  be  persona  gratay  and  I 
cabled  to  Washington  to  this  effect. 

Early  in  January  a  message  came  from 
the  Secretary  of  State  saying  that,  as  all 
was  arranged  except  the  final  confirmation 
of  the  appointment,  I  might  feel  free  to 
leave  at  my  convenience.  Having  cleaned 
up  my  work  and  left  everything  in  order 
for  my  successor  (including  the  lease  of 
my  house),  I  took  ship  from  Flushing  for 
England  on  January  15,  1917. 

The  voyage  through  the  danger  zone 
was  uneventful.  The  visit  to  England  was 
unforgettable. 

Everywhere  I  saw  the  evidences  that 
Great  Britain  was  at  war,  in  earnest,  and 
resolved  to  "carry  on"  with  her  Allies 
until  the  victory  of  a  real  peace  was  won.  \ 

Women  and  girls  were  at  work  in  the     ^,^, 
railway  stations,  on  the  trams  and  omni- 
buses, in  the  munition  factories,  in  postal 
and  telegraph  service,  doing  the  tasks  of 

[201] 


k 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

men.  We  shall  have  to  revise  that  phrase 
which  speaks  of  "the  weaker  sex." 
By  night  London  was 

"Dark,  dark,  dark,  irrecoverably  dark.** 

But  it  was  not  still,  nor  terrified  by  the 
instant  danger  of  ZeppeUn  raids.  Every 
time  a  German  vulture  passed  over  Eng- 
land dropping  bolts  of  indiscriminate  death, 
it  woke  the  heart  of  the  people  to  a  new 
impulse,  not  of  fear  but  of  hot  indignation. 
By  day  the  great  city  swarmed  with 
eager  life.  Business  was  going  on  at  full 
swing,  though  not  "as  usual."  Women 
were  driving  trucks,  carrying  packages, 
running  ticket-oflBces.  Men  in  khaki  out- 
numbered those  in  civilian  dress.  Wounded 
soldiers  hobbled  cheerfully  along  the  streets. 
The  parks  were  adorned  with  hospitals. 
Mrs.  Pankhurst  spoke  from  a  soap-box 
near  the  Marble  Arch;  not  now  for  woman- 
suffrage — "That  will  come,"  she  said,  "but 
the  great  thing  to-day  is  to  carry  on  the 
war  to  a  victory  for  freedom ! " 

[202] 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

Oxford — gray  city  of  the  golden  dream. 
Learning's  fairest  and  most  lovely  seat  in 
all  the  world — Oxford  was  transformed 
into^a  hospital  for  the  wounded,  a  training- 
camp  for  new  soldiers,  a  nursery  of  noble 
manhood  equipped  for  the  stern  duties  of 
war. 

Every  family  that  I  knew  was  in  grief 
for  a  dear  one  lost  on  the  field  of  glorious 
strife.  But  not  one  was  in  mourning.  The 
great  sacrifice  was  bravely  accepted  as 
a  part  of  the  greater  duty. 

The  friends  with  whom  I  talked  most — 
men  like  Lord  Bryce,  Sir  Sydney  Lee,  Sir 
Herbert  Warren,  Sir  Robertson  Nicoll,  Sir 
WiUiam  Osier — were  lovers  of  peace,  tried 
and  well-known.  All  were  of  one  mind  in 
holding  that  Britain's  faith  and  honor 
bound  her  to  accept  the  war  when  Ger- 
many violated  Belgium,  and  that  it  must 
be  fought  through  until  the  Prussian  mih- 
tary  autocracy  which  began  it  was  broken. 

There  were  restricted  rations  in  England; 
but  no  starvation  and  no  sign  of  it.  There 

[  203  ] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

were  partisan  criticisms  and  plenty  of 
** grousing."  The  Britisher  is  never  con- 
tented unless  he  can  grumble — especially 
at  his  own  government.  But  there  was 
no  lack  of  a  real  unity  of  purpose,  nor  of 
a  sohd,  cheerful,  bull-dog  determination  to 
hang  on  to  the  enemy  until  he  came  down. 
It  is  this  spirit  that  has  enabled  a  nation, 
which  was  almost  ignorant  of  what  mili- 
tary preparedness  meant,  to  put  between 
three  and  four  milhon  troops  into  the  field 
in  defense  of  justice  and  hberty. 

At  the  end  of  January  I  went  to  France, 
eager  to  see  with  my  own  eyes  the  great 
things  that  were  doing  there  and  to  taste 
with  my  own  lips  the  cup  of  danger.  That 
at  least  I  was  bound  to  do  before  I  could 
come  home  and  urge  my  countrymen  to 
face  the  duty  and  brave  the  peril  of  a  part 
in  this  war. 

Paris  was  not  so  dark  as  London  but 
more  tragic.  After  Belgium  and  Servia 
the  heaviest  brunt  of  this  dreadful  con- 

[2041 


STAND  FAST.  YE  FREE! 

flict  has  fallen  upon  France.  She  has  suf- 
fered most.  Yet  on  the  faces  of  her  women 
I  saw  no  tears  and  in  the  eyes  of  her  men 
no  fear  nor  regret. 

If  Britain  was  magnificent,  France  was 
miraculous !  Loving  and  desiring  peace  she 
accepted  the  cross  of  war  without  a 
mui*mur.  Her  women  were  no  less  brave 
than  her  men.  She  wears  the  hero-star 
of  Roland  and  the  saintly  halo  of  Joan  of 
Arc. 

After  meeting  many  men  in  Paris — states- 
men, men  of  letters,  generals — and  after 
visiting  the  splendid  American  Ambulance 
at  Neuilly  and  other  institutions  in  which 
our  boys  and  girls  were  giving  their  help 
to  France  in  the  chivalric  spirit  of  Lafay- 
ette, I  went  out  toward  the  front. 

The  first  visit  was  under  the  escort  of 
Captain  Frangois  Monod  to  a  chateau  be- 
yond Compiegne,  where  Rudyard  Kipling 
with  his  family  and  I  with  my  family  had 
passed  the  Christmas  week  of  1913  to- 
gether, as  joyous  guests  of  the  American 

[2051 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

chatelaine  Mrs.  Julia  Park.  She  has  given 
the  spacious,  lovely  house  for  a  mihtary 
hospital.  And  there,  while  the  German 
guns  thundered  a  few  kilometres  away 
from  us  and  a  German  sausage  balloon 
floated  in  the  sky,  I  watched  the  skilful 
ministrations  of  French  and  American 
doctors  and  nurses  to  the  wounded. 

One  thought  haunted  me — the  memory 
of  KjpHng's  only  son,  nineteen  years  old, 
who  was  with  us  in  that  happy  Christmas- 
tide.  The  lad  was  reported  "missing" 
after  one  of  the  battles  between  Loos  and 
HuUuch.  For  six  months  I  sought,  with  the 
help  of  Herr  von  Ktihlmann,  German  Min- 
ister at  The  Hague,  to  find  a  trace  of  the 
brave  boy.  But  never  a  word  could  we  get. 

The  second  visit  was  to  the  battle-field 
of  the  Marne  under  the  escort  of  Captain 
the  Count  de  Ganay.  We  motored  slowly 
through  the  ruined  towns  and  villages. 
Those  which  had  been  wrecked  by  shell- 
fire  were  like  mouthfuls  of  broken  teeth — • 
chimneys    and    fragments    of    walls    still 

[206] 


STAND  FAST.   YE  FREE! 

standing.  Those  which  had  been  venge- 
fully  burned  by  the  retreating  Germans 
were  mere  heaps  of  ashes.  Most  of  our 
time  was  spent  around  the  Marais  de  St. 
Gond,  where  the  French  General  Foch 
held  the  Thermopylae  of  Europe. 

Four  times  he  advanced  across  that  marsh 
and  was  driven  back,  but  not  beaten.  The 
fifth  time  he  advanced  and  stayed,  and 
Paris  was  forever  lost  to  the  Germans. 
Think  of  the  men  who  made  that  last  ad- 
vance and  saved  Europe  from  the  Pots- 
dam gang.  Their  graves,  carefully  marked 
and  tended,  he  thickly  strewn  along  the 
lonely  ridges  of  all  that  region — ^humble 
but  immortal  reminders  of  glorious  heroism. 

The  third  visit  was  with  the  same  escort 
to  the  fighting  front  at  Verdun. 

The  long,  bare,  rolling  ridges  between 
Bar-le-Duc  and  the  Meuse;  the  high- 
shouldered  hills  along  the  river  and  around 
the  ruined  Kttle  city;  the  open  fields, 
the  narrow  valleys,  the  wrecked  villages, 
the  shattered  woodlands — all  were  covered 

[207] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

with  dazzling  snow.  The  sun  was  bright 
in  a  cloudless  sky.  A  bitter,  biting  wind 
poured  fiercely,  steadily  out  of  the  north, 
driving  the  gUttering  snow-dust  before  it. 
Every  man  had  put  on  all  the  clothes  he 
possessed,  and  more;  pads  of  sheepskin 
over  back  and  breast;  gunny  sacks  tied 
around  the  shoulders.  The  troops  of 
cavalry,  the  teams  of  mules  and  horses 
dragging  munition-wagons  or  travelling 
kitchens  or  long  "75"  guns,  clattered 
along  the  iron  surface  of  the  Via  Sacra — 
that  blessed  road  which  made  the  salva- 
tion of  Verdun  possible  after  the  only 
railway  was  destroyed.  Endless  trains  of 
motor-lorries  lumbered  by.  The  narrow 
trenches  were  coated  with  ice.  The  hill- 
side trails  were  slippery  as  glass.  In  the 
deep  dugouts  small  sheet-iron  stoves  were 
burning,  giving  out  a  Httle  heat  and  a 
great  deal  of  choking  smoke.  The  soldiers 
sat  around  them  playing  cards  or  telling 
stories. 
But  there!  "What  I  saw  in  that  shell- 

[208] 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE! 

pitted,  snow-covered,  hard-frozen  amphi- 
theatre of  heroism  cannot  be  described  in 
these  brief  paragraphs.  The  serenity,  cheer- 
fuhiess,  courtesy,  and  indomitable  com-age 
of  the  French  poilus  defending  their  own 
land;  the  scenes  in  the  trenches  with  the 
German  shells  breaking  around  us  and 
the  wounded  men  being  carried  past  us; 
the  luncheon  in  the  citadel  with  the  com- 
mandant and  officers  in  a  subterranean 
room  where  the  motto  on  the  wall,  above 
the  world-renowned  escutcheon  of  Verdun, 
was  "On  ne  passe  pas" — "They  don't  get 
by";  the  dinner  with  the  general  and 
staff  of  the  Verdun  army,  in  a  Httle  vil- 
lage "somewhere  in  France,"  and  their 
last  words  to  me,  "On  les  aural  Qa  pent 
itre  long,  mais  on  les  aura  T* — "It  may 
take  long,  but  we  shall  get  them!" — all 
these  and  a  thousand  more  things  are 
vivid  in  my  memory  but  cannot  be  told 
now. 

One  scene  sticks  in  my  mind  and  asks 
to  be  recorded. 

[  209 1 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

The  hospital  was  just  back  of  the  Verdun 
lines.  Its  roofs  were  marked  with  the  Red 
Cross.  Twenty-four  hundred  beds,  all  clean 
and  quiet.  Wards  full  of  German  wounded, 
cared  for  as  tenderly  as  the  French.  "Will 
you  see  an  operation.'*"  said  the  proud 
httle  commandant  who  was  showing  me 
through  his  domain.  "Certainly."  A  big, 
husky  fellow  was  on  the  operating-table, 
unconscious,  under  ether.  One  of  the  best 
surgeons  in  France  was  performing  the 
operation  of  trepanning.  I  could  see  the 
patient's  brain,  bare  and  beating,  while 
the  surgeon  did  his  skilful  work.  Other 
doctors  stood  around,  and  three  nurses, 
one  an  American  girl.  Miss  Cowen,  of 
Pittsburgh.  "Will  the  man  get  well.?"  I 
asked  the  surgeon.  "I  hope  so,"  he  an- 
swered. "At  all  events,  we  shall  do  our 
best  for  him.  You  know,  he  is  a  German — 
c^est  un  Boche!" 

On  August  20,  1917,  that  very  hospital, 
marked  with  the  Red  Cross,  was  bombed 
by  German  aeroplanes.  One  wing  was  set 

[210] 


STAND  FAST,  YE  FREE!] 

on  fire.  While  the  nurses  and  helpers  were 
trying  to  rescue  the  patients,  the  bloody 
Potsdam  vultures  flew  back  and  forth  three 
times  over  the  place,  raking  it  with  ma- 
chine guns.  More  than  thirty  persons  were 
killed,  including  doctors,  German  wounded, 
and  one  woman  nurse.  God  grant  it  was 
not  the  American  girl !  Yet  why  would 
not  the  kilhng  of  a  French  sister  under 
the  Red  Cross  be  just  as  wicked  ? 

Here  I  break  off — uncompleted — ^my  nar- 
ration of  the  evil  choice  of  war  and  the 
crimes  in  the  conduct  of  war  which  have 
made  the  name  of  Germany  abhorred. 

The  Allies,  from  the  beginning,  have 
pleaded  for  peace  and  fought  for  peace. 
America,  obeying  her  conscience,  has 
joined  them  in  the  conflict. 

But  what  do  we  mean  now  by  peace.'' 
We  mean  more  than  a  mere  cessation  of 
hostiHties.  We  mean  that  the  burglar  shall 
give  back  all  that  he  has  grabbed.  We 
mean  that  the  marauder  shall  make  good 
[ml 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

all  the  damage  that  he  has  done.  We  mean 
that  there  shall  be  an  open  league  of  free 
democratic  states,  great  and  small,  to 
guard  against  the  recurrence  of  such  a 
bloody  calamity  as  the  autocratic,  mili- 
taristic Potsdam  gang  precipitated  upon 
the  world  in  1914. 
In  the  next  chapter  I  shall  discuss  briefly 
the  practical  significance  of  this  kind  of 
peace  and  the  absolute  preconditions  which 
must  be  reaKzed  before  any  conference 
on  the  subject  will  be  profitable  or  even 
safe. 
I  The  duty  of  the  present  is  to  fight  on  be- 
side France,  Great  Britain,  Italy,  Belgium, 
\Servia,  Roumania,  and,  we  hope,  Russia, 
to  bring  the  Government  of  the  German 
mpire  to  terms  and  end  the  war." 
To  talk  of  any  other  course  is  treason, 
not  only  to  our  country  but  to  the  cause 
if  true  Peace. 


[212 


vn 

PAX  HUMANA 


PAX  HUMANA 

I 

The  trouble  with  the  ordinary  or  garden 
variety  of  pacifist  is  that  he  has  a  merely 
negative  idea  of  peace. 

The  true  idea  of  peace  is  positive,  con- 
structive, forward-looking.  It  is  not  content 
with  a  mere  cessation  of  hostilities  at  any 
particular  period  of  the  world's  history.  It 
aims  at  the  establishment  of  reason  and  jus- 
tice as  the  rule  of  the  world's  life.  It  pro- 
poses to  find  the  basis  of  this  establishment 
in  the  freely  expressed  will  of  the  peoples 
of  the  world. 

The  men  and  women  who  do  the  world's 
work  are  the  sovereigns  who  must  guarantee 
this  real  peace  of  the  world. 

That  is  what  we  are  fighting  for.  Not 
'pax  Romana,  nor  pax  Germanica,  nor  pax 
Britannica,    but    pax    Humana — a    peace 

[215] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

which  will  bring  a  positive  benefit  to  all  the 
tribes  of  humanity. 

Since  the  choice  by  the  Imperial  German 
Government,  in  August,  1914,  of  war  as  the 
/  means  of  settling  international  disputes,  the 
Allies  have  been  fighting  against  that  choice 
and  its  bloody  consequences.  Every  one  of 
them — Great  Britain,  France,  Italy,  Russia 
— had  pleaded  for  arbitration,  conference, 
consultation,  to  avert  this  fearful  conflict 
of  arms.  But  it  was  in  vain. 

The  United  States  of  America,  forced  by 
the  flagrant  violation  of  its  neutral  rights  to 
take  an  active  part  in  the  war,  and  led  by 
its  vital  sympathies  to  the  side  of  the  Allies, 
committed  by  honor  and  conscience  to  the 
duty  of  fighting  for  a  real  peace  of  mankind, 
must  carry  on  this  war  until  its  humane  and 
democratic  object  is  attained.  To  do  less 
than  that  would  be  to  renounce  our  place  as 
a  great  nation,  to  deny  our  faith  as  Ameri- 
cans, and  to  expose  our  country  to  incalcu- 
lable peril  and  disaster. 

But  now  that  all  the  nations  of  the  earth 

[216] 


PAX  HUMANA 

have  begun  to  realize  the  horror  of  this 
abominable  German  war,  and  to  desire  its 
ending,  it  is  necessary  for  us,  in  conjunction 
with  our  friends  of  peaceful  and  democratic 
purpose,  to  consider,  first,  the  conditions 
under  which  peace  may  be  discussed  with 
the  Imperial  German  Government,  and, 
second,  the  terms  on  which  a  peace  may 
possibly  be  concluded. 

n 

THE  CONDITIONS  OF  A  PEACE  CONFERENCE 

We  should  distinguish  clearly  between  the 
conditions  which  must  be  fulfilled  before  we 
can  honorably  enter  into  any  talk  of  peace 
with  our  adversary,  the  begetter  and  begin- 
ner of  this  war;  and  the  terms  which  the 
Allies  and  the  United  States  and  the  other 
nations  at  war  with  Germany  would  put  for- 
ward in  such  a  conversation  as  a  just  and 
durable  basis  for  the  establishment  of  peace. 

This  distinction  is  essential.  The  conditions 

are  antecedent  and  indispensable.  Until  they 

[217] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

are  fulfilled  we  cannot  talk  with  the  enemy, 
except  in  the  language  which  he  has  chosen 
and  forced  upon  us — the  stem  tongue  of 
battle  by  land  and  sea. 

Germany  grandiloquently  claims  to  be  the 
first  to  propose  a  peace-conference  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  horrors  of  war.  (See  the 
Kaiser's  note  of  December  12,  1916.*) 

She  forgets  the  many  proposals  for  such  a 
conference  which  were  made  to  her  in  the 
fateful  month  of  July,  1914,  by  Servia, 
France,  Great  Britain,  Italy,  and  Russia — 
all  of  which  she  contemptuously  brushed 
aside  in  her  scornful  will  to  war.  She  forgets 
the  offenses  against  international  law  and 
against  the  plain  precepts  of  humanity 
which  she  has  committed  since  that  time 
and  which  have  earned  for  her  the  indigna- 

*  This  note  contains  not  the  slightest  reference  to  the  nature 
of  the  suggested  peace.  Its  tone  conforms  to  the  orders  which  the 
Kaiser  issued  to  his  army  on  the  same  day:  "Under  the  influence 
of  the  victory  which  you  have  gained  by  your  bravery,  I  and  the 
monarchs  of  the  three  states  in  alliance  with  me  have  made  an 
offer  of  peace  to  the  enemy.  It  is  uncertain  whether  the  object 
at  which  this  offer  is  aimed  will  be  reached.  You  will  have  mean- 
while, with  God's  help,  to  continue  to  resist  and  defeat  the 
enemy."  It  was  not  a  proposal  of  peace.  It  was  a  proclamation  of 
victory — German  victory — and  an  invitation  to  surrender. 

[218] 


PAX  HUMANA 

tion  and  mistrust  of  mankind.  She  forgets 
that  her  so-called  proposal  for  a  peace  con- 
ference contained  no  suggestion  of  the  terms 
of  peace  which  she  was  willing  to  discuss. 
She  forgets  that  such  a  proposal  is  a  mere 
hypocritical  mockery.  No  sane  person,  no 
intelligent  nation,  would  enter  into  a  con- 
ference without  knowledge  of  the  things  to 
be  considered. 

This  last  point  lies  at  the  base  of  President 
Wilson's  note  of  December  18,  1916,  sug- 
gesting that  the  belligerent  powers,  on  both 
sides,  should  "avow  their  respective  views 
as  to  the  terms  upon  which  the  war  might 
be  concluded  and  the  arrangements  which 
would  be  deemed  satisfactory  as  a  guarantee 
against  its  renewal  or  the  kindling  of  any 
similar  conflict  in  the  future."  This  note,  I 
believe,  was  sent  to  all  the  American  Am- 
bassadors and  Ministers  in  Europe,  with 
instructions  to  communicate  it  to  the  Gov- 
ernments to  which  they  were  accredited, 
whether  belligerent  or  neutral. 

Here  is  a  point  at  which  I  can  throw  a  lit- 

[2191 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

tie  new  light  upon  the  situation.  I  handed 
the  note,  as  I  was  ordered  to  do,  to  the 
Dutch  Minister,  without  comment  or  rec- 
ommendation. Almost  immediately  the  Ger- 
man-subsidized press  in  Holland  began  to 
assail  the  Dutch  Government  for  refusing 
to  support  President  Wilson's  note.  It 
seemed  to  me  that  this  was  a  falsehood, 
unjust  to  Holland,  injurious  to  our  Govern- 
ment, which  had  not  asked  for  support. 
Therefore  I  made  the  following  statement 
to  the  press  on  January  9,  1917: 

"The  Dutch  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  is 
absolutely  correct  in  saying  that  I  handed 
him  President  Wilson's  note  of  December 
18  without  any  request  or  suggestion  that 
the  Netherlands  Government  should  sup- 
port it.  I  did  so  because  I  was  so  instructed 
by  my  Government.  I  was  told  to  transmit 
the  President's  note  simply  as  a  matter  of 
information.  No  request  was  added.  The 
reason  for  this  is  because  America  under- 
stands the  delicate  and  difficult  position  of 
the  Netherlands  Government,  in  the  midst 

[  220  ] 


PAX  HUMANA 

of  the  present  war,  and  will  not  urge  nor 
even  ask  it  to  do  anything  which  it  does 
not  judge  to  be  wise  and  prudent  and  help- 
ful. I  have  done  my  best  to  promote  this 
right  understanding  of  the  position  of  Hol- 
land in  the  United  States,  and  I  shall  con- 
tinue to  do  so.  I  have  no  knowledge  of  any 
instructions  from  Washington  in  regard  to 
the  manner  of  delivering  the  President's 
note  in  Spain. 

"What  I  cannot  understand  is  the  general 
misunderstanding  of  that  note.  It  expressly 
declared  that  it  was  not  an  offer  of  media- 
tion nor  a  proposal  of  peace.  It  was  simply 
a  suggestion  that  the  belligerents  on  both 
sides  should  state  the  terms  on  which  they 
would  be  willing  to  consider  and  discuss 
peace.  The  Entente  Powers  have  already 
done  this  with  some  clearness,  and  will  prob- 
ably soon  do  so  even  more  clearly.  The  Cen- 
tral Powers  have  politely,  even  affection- 
ately, but  very  practically,  declined  the 
President's  invitation  to  state  their  terms. 
There  is  the  deadlock  on  peace  talk  at  pres- 

[2211 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

ent.  When  both  sides  are  equally  frank  the 
world  can  judge  whether  the  peace  which 
all  just  men  desire  is  near  or  far  away." 

The  accuracy  and  propriety  of  this  state- 
ment have  never  been  questioned  by  the 
Department  of  State.  On  the  contrary,  it 
was  practically  affirmed  by  the  President  in 
his  address  to  the  Senate  on  January  22, 
1917,  when  he  said: 

"On  the  18th  of  December  last  I  addressed 
an  identic  note  to  the  Governments  of  the 
nations  now  at  war,  requesting  them  to 
state,  more  definitely  than  they  had  yet 
been  stated  by  either  group  of  belligerents, 
the  terms  upon  which  they  would  deem  it 
possible  to  make  peace.  I  spoke  on  behalf  of 
humanity  and  of  the  rights  of  all  neutral 
nations  like  our  own,  many  of  whose  most 
vital  interests  the  war  puts  in  constant 
jeopardy. 

"The  Central  Powers  united  in  a  reply 
which  stated  merely  that  they  were  ready 
to  meet  their  antagonists  in  conference  to 
discuss  terms  of  peace. 

[  222  ] 


PAX  HUMANA 

"The  Entente  Powers  have  replied  much 
more  definitely  and  have  stated,  in  general 
terms  indeed,  but  with  sufficient  definite- 
ness  to  imply  details,  the  arrangements, 
guarantees,  and  acts  of  reparation  which 
they  deem  to  be  indispensable  conditions  of 
a  satisfactory  settlement." 

Here,  then,  we  come  within  sight  of 
the  first  of  the  conditions  which  are  ab- 
solutely precedent,  at  least  so  far  as  Amer- 
ica is  concerned,  to  any  discussion  of 
peace. 

1.  Germany  must  answer  President  Wil- 
son's note  of  December  18,  1916.  She  must 
state  her  terms  of  peace,  maximum  or  mini- 
mum, frankly  and  unequivocally. 

Germany  asserts  that  she  is  waging  a  de- 
fensive war.  She  must  tell  the  world  what 
she  is  defending.  That  she  has  never  been 
willing  to  do. 

Germany  asserts  that  she  is  victorious  thus 
far.  She  must  say  what  she  thinks  her  "vic- 
tories" mean,  and  what  they  entitle  her  to 
claim  and  keep. 

[223] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

In  brief,  Germany  must  lay  her  cards  on 
the  table.  If  she  wants  peace — ^and  certainly 
she  needs  it, — she  must  be  willing  to  say 
what  she  means  by  it. 

2.  The  second  condition  precedent  to  any 
discussion  of  peace  terms  with  Germany  has 
been  clearly  defined  by  President  Wilson  in 
his  reply  to  the  note  issued  by  His  Holiness 
Pope  Benedict. 

That  reply  was  thoroughly  sympathetic 
and  conciliatory.  Among  its  frank  and 
strong  paragraphs  there  was  one  which 
must  be  particularly  noted: 

"We  cannot  take  the  word  of  the  present 
rulers  of  Germany  as  a  guarantee  of  any- 
thing that  is  to  endure  unless  explicitly  sup- 
ported by  such  conclusive  evidence  of  the 
will  and  purpose  of  the  German  people 
themselves  as  the  other  peoples  of  the  world 
would  be  justified  in  accepting.  Without 
such  guarantees  treaties  of  settlement, 
agreements  for  disarmament,  covenants  to 
set  up  arbitration  in  the  place  of  force,  ter- 
ritorial adjustments,  reconstitutions  of  small 

[224] 


PAX  HUMANA 

nations,  if  made  with  the  German  Govern- 
ment, no  man,  no  nation,  could  now  depend 
on. 

Understand — this  is  not  a  flat  refusal  to 
treat  with  the  House  of  Hohenzollern  in  any 
circumstances,  which  the  more  rabid  and 
less  thoughtful  newspapers  of  England  have 
urged.  It  is  merely  a  statement  that  the 
rulers  of  Germany  must  have  behind  them 
a  sufficient  and  explicit  mandate  and  guar- 
antee of  the  people  of  Germany  before  we 
can  trust  them. 

We  do  not  presume  to  interfere  in  the  in- 
ternal affairs  of  the  German  Empire.  The 
people  of  that  empire  have  a  right  to  say 
how  they  shall  be  ruled.  If  they  like  the 
HohenzoUerns,  good ! 

All  that  we  ask  is  some  clear,  democratic 
guarantee  of  the  German  people  behind  the 
word  of  its  chosen  Government. 

Does  this  mean  a  complete  reformation  of 
the  German  Empire,  which  in  effect  now 
consists  of  twenty-two  hereditary  kings, 
princes,  dukes,  and  grand  dukes,  with  the 

[225] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

Kaiser  at  the  head  ?  Does  it  mean  a  consti- 
tutional remoulding  of  the  empire  ? 

That  would  be  a  long  process.  The  people 
of  Germany  are  well  disciplined.  There  is 
small  prospect  of  a  revolution  in  that  coun- 
try unless  war  compels  it. 

What  is  it  that  we  are  pledged  by  Presi- 
dent Wilson's  statement  to  insist  upon  as 
a  precondition  of  any  peace  conference 
with  Germany?  Simply  this — that  behind 
the  word  of  the  Kaiser  there  must  be  the 
word  of  the  German  people. 

That  word  must  be  given  in  advance  and 
in  a  way  which  will  satisfy  both  the  Alhes 
and  the  United  States.  It  is  for  the  German 
people  to  find  the  way. 

We  cannot  honorably  talk  peace  with  Ger- 
many until  that  way  is  found. 

3.  The  third  condition  antecedent  to  a 
conference  on  peace  is  the  renunciation  and 
abandonment  of  the  German  submarine 
warfare  upon  merchant  shipping. 

On  this  point  I  do  not  speak  with  any 
kind  of  authority  or  official  sanction.  WTiat 

[226] 


PAX  HUMANA 

I  say  IS  based,  indeed,  upon  words  uttered 
with  the  highest  authority.  But  the  con- 
clusion drawn  from  them  is  merely  my 
own  judgment  and  has  no  force  beyond 
that  of  the  reasoning  that  has  led  me  to  it. 

The  American  position  in  regard  to  this 
submarine  warfare — its  illegality,  its  inhu- 
manity— ^has  been  clearly  and  eloquently 
defined  by  our  Government  again  and 
again. 

"The  Government  of  the  United  States  has 
been  apprised  that  the  Imperial  German 
Government  considered  themselves  to  be 
obliged,  by  the  extraordinary  circumstances 
of  the  present  war  and  the  measures  adopted 
by  their  adversaries  in  seeking  to  cut  Ger- 
many off  from  all  commerce,  to  adopt 
methods  of  retaliation  which  go  much  be- 
yond the  ordinary  methods  of  warfare  at 
sea,  in  the  proclamation  of  a  war  zone  from 
which  they  have  warned  neutral  ships  to 
keep  away.  This  Government  has  aheady 
taken  occasion  to  inform  the  Imperial  Ger- 
man Government  that  it  cannot  admit  the 

[227] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

adoption  of  such  measures  or  such  a  warning 
of  danger  to  operate  as  in  any  degree  an 
abbreviation  of  the  rights  of  American  ship- 
masters or  of  American  citizens  bound  on 
lawful  errands  as  passengers  on  merchant 
ships  of  belligerent  neutrality;  and  that  it 
must  hold  the  Imperial  German  Govern- 
ment to  a  strict  accountability  for  any  in- 
fringement of  those  rights,  intentional  or 
incidental.  It  does  not  understand  the  Im- 
perial German  Government  to  question 
those  rights.  It  assumes,  on  the  contrary, 
that  the  Imperial  German  Government  ac- 
cept, as  of  course,  the  rule  that  the  lives  of 
non-combatants,  whether  they  be  of  neutral 
citizenship  or  citizens  of  one  of  the  nations 
at  war,  cannot  lawfully  or  rightfully  be  put 
in  jeopardy  by  the  capture  or  destruction  of 
an  unarmed  merchantman,  and  recognize 
also,  as  all  other  nations  do,  the  obligation 
to  take  the  usual  precaution  of  visit  and 
search  to  ascertain  whether  a  suspected 
merchantman  is  in  fact  of  belligerent  na- 
tionality or  is  in  fact  carrying  contraband 

[228] 


PAX  HUMANA 

of  war  under  a  neutral  flag."  (The  Secretary 
of  State,  Washington,  D.  C,  to  the  German 
Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  May  13, 1915.) 
"The  fact  that  more  than  one  hundred 
American  citizens  were  among  those  who 
perished"  (reference  to  the  sinking  of  the 
Lusitania)  "made  it  the  duty  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  to  speak  of 
these  things  and  once  more,  with  solemn 
emphasis,  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Im- 
perial German  Government  to  the  grave  re- 
sponsibility which  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  conceives  that  it  has  incurred 
in  this  tragic  occurrence,  and  to  the  indis- 
putable principle  upon  which  that  responsi- 
bility rests.  The  Government  of  the  United 
States  is  contending  for  something  much 
greater  than  mere  rights  of  property  or 
privileges  of  commerce.  It  is  contending  for 
nothing  less  high  and  sacred  than  the  rights 
of  humanity,  which  every  government  hon- 
ors itself  in  respecting  and  which  no  govern- 
ment is  justified  in  resigning  on  behalf  of 
those  under  its  care  and  authority."  (The 

[229] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

Secretary  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C,  to 
the  German  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs, 
June  9,  1915.) 

"If  a  belligerent  cannot  retaliate  against 
an  enemy  without  injuring  the  lives  of  neu- 
trals as  well  as  their  property,  humanity, 
as  well  as  justice  and  a  due  regard  for  the 
dignity  of  neutral  powers,  should  dictate 
that  the  practice  be  discontinued.  If  per- 
sisted in  it  would  in  such  circumstances 
constitute  an  unpardonable  offense  against 
the  sovereignty  of  the  neutral  nation  af- 
fected. .  .  .  The  rights  of  neutrals  in  time 
of  war  are  based  upon  principle,  not  upon 
expediency,  and  the  principles  are  immuta- 
ble. It  is  the  duty  and  obligation  of  belliger- 
ents to  find  a  way  to  adapt  the  new  circum- 
stances to  them."  (The  Secretary  of  State, 
Washington,  D.  C,  to  the  German  Minister 
for  Foreign  Affairs,  July  21,  1915.) 

"The  law  of  nations  in  these  matters,  upon 
which  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
based  that  protest"  (i.  e.,  against  the  Ger- 
man declaration  of  February,  1915,  declar- 

[230] 


PAX  HUMANA 

ing  the  danger  zone  around  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland)  "is  not  of  recent  origin  or 
founded  upon  merely  arbitrary  principles 
set  up  by  convention.  It  is  based,  on  the 
contrary,  upon  manifest  principles  of  hu- 
manity and  has  long  been  established  with 
the  approval  and  by  the  express  assent  of 
all  civilized  nations.  ...  It  has  become 
painfully  evident  to  it  (the  Government  of 
the  United  States)  that  the  position  which 
it  took  at  the  very  outset  is  inevitable, 
namely — the  use  of  submarines  for  the  de- 
struction of  an  enemy's  commerce  is,  of 
necessity,  because  of  the  very  character  of 
the  vessels  employed  and  the  very  methods 
of  attack  which  their  employment  of  course 
involves,  utterly  incompatible  with  the  prin- 
ciples of  humanity,  the  long-established  and 
incontrovertible  rights  of  neutrals,  and  the 
sacred  immunities  of  non-combatants." 
(The  Secretary  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C, 
to  the  German  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs, 
April  18,  1916.) 
"But  we  cannot  forget  that  we  are  in  some 

[231] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

sort  and  by  the  force  of  circumstances  the 
responsible  spokesmen  of  the  rights  of  hu- 
manity, and  that  we  cannot  remain  silent 
while  those  rights  seem  in  process  of  being 
swept  away  in  the  maelstrom  of  this  terrible 
war.  We  owe  it  to  a  due  regard  for  our  own 
rights  as  a  nation,  to  our  sense  of  duty  as  a 
representative  of  the  rights  of  neutrals  the 
world  over,  and  to  a  just  conception  of  the 
rights  of  mankind  to  take  this  stand  now 
with  the  utmost  solemnity  and  firmness." 
(President  Wilson's  Address  to  Congress, 
April  19,  1916.) 

"The  present  German  warfare  against 
commerce  is  a  warfare  against  mankind.  It 
is  a  war  against  all  nations.  American  ships 
have  been  sunk,  American  lives  taken,  in 
ways  which  it  has  stirred  us  very  deeply  to 
learn  of,  but  the  ships  and  people  of  other 
neutral  and  friendly  nations  have  been  sunk 
and  overwhelmed  in  the  waters  in  the  same 
way.  There  has  been  no  discrimination. 
The  challenge  is  to  all  mankind.  Each  na- 
tion must  decide  for  itself  how  it  will  meet 

[2S2] 


PAX  HUMANA 

it."  (President  Wilson's  Message  to  Con- 
gress, April  2,  1917.) 

The  United  States  cannot  go  back  on  these 
words.  They  are  fundamental  in  our  posi- 
tion. I  do  not  know  whether  the  Allies  have 
formally  indorsed  them  or  not.  But  that 
makes  no  difference.  It  seems  to  me  that 
for  America,  with  her  traditional,  unalter- 
able devotion  to  the  doctrine  of  Mare  Lihe- 
rum,  as  Grotius  stated  it,  there  can  be  no 
peace  conference  with  a  Government  which 
is  in  active  and  flagrant  violation  of  that 
principle. 

I  think  that  for  us  at  least — ^we  do  not 
venture  to  speak  for  the  Allies,  though  we 
believe  they  sympathize  with  our  point  of 
view — there  can  be  no  peace  parley  with 
Germany  until  she  renounces  and  abandons 
her  atrocious  method  of  submarine  warfare 
on  merchant  shipping. 

Here,  then,  are  the  three  conditions  which 
ought  to  be  fulfilled  before  we  can  honor- 
ably enter  a  conference  on  peace  with  the 
Imperial  German  Government.  The  first  is 

[233] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

a  legitimate  inference  from  the  statements 
of  the  President.  The  second  has  been 
positively  laid  down  by  the  President.  The 
third  is  drawn,  purely  on  my  own  respon- 
sibility, from  his  wqrds. 

First,  Germany  should  frankly  declare  the 
aims  with  which  she  began  this  war,  and  the 
purposes  with  which  she  continues  it  on  the 
territories  which  she  has  invaded. 

Second,  Germany  must  offer  adequate 
guarantees  that  in  any  peace  negotiations 
her  rulers  shall  speak  only  and  absolutely 
with  the  voice  of  the  people  behind  them — 
in  other  words,  with  a  democratic,  not  an 
autocratic,  sanction. 

Third,  Germany  ought  to  give  a  pledge  of 
good  faith  by  the  abandonment  of  her 
illegal  and  inhuman  submarine  warfare  on 
the  merchant  shipping  of  the  world. 

Is  it  likely  that  the  predatory  Potsdam 
gang  will  be  willing  to  accept  these  three 
conditions  soon  ? 

I  frankly  confess  that  I  do  not  know.  Ger- 
many is  in  sore  straits.  That  I  know  from 

[234] 


PAX  HUMANA 

personal  observation.  But  I  know  also  that 
she  is  magnificently  organized,  trained,  and 
disciplined  for  obedience  to  the  imperial 
will.  She  will  carry  her  fight  for  world  em- 
pire to  the  last  limit. 

When  that  limit  is  reached,  when  the  Ger- 
man people  know  that  the  attempt  of  their 
rulers  to  dominate  the  world  by  war  has 
failed,  then  it  will  be  time  to  talk  with  them 
about  the  terms  of  peace. 

m 

THE  TERMS  OF  PEACE 

This  is  a  long  subject;  and  for  that  reason 
I  mean  to  make  it  a  short  chapter. 

1.  A  discussion  of  peace  terms  with  our 
enemy,  the  Imperial  German  Government, 
is  neither  desirable  nor  safe  under  the 
present  conditions. 

Until  that  Government  is  disabused  of  the 
delusion  that  it  has  won,  is  winning,  or 
will  win  a  substantial  victory  in  this  war, 
it  is  not  likely  to  say  anything  sane  or 

[2351 


FIGHTING  TOR  PEACE 

reasonable  about  peace.  A  pax  Germanica 
is  what  it  is  willing  to  discuss. 

But  that  is  just  what  we  do  not  want.  To 
enter  such  a  discussion  now  would  be  both 
futile  and  perilous. 

It  would  probably  postpone  the  coming  of 
that  real  pax  humana  for  which  the  Allies 
have  already  made  such  great  sacrifices, 
and  for  which  we  have  pledged  ourselves 
to  fight  at  their  side. 

But  meantime  it  is  wise  and  right  and 
useful  to  let  the  German  people  know,  by 
such  means  as  we  can  find,  that  we  have 
not  entered  this  war  in  the  spirit  of  revenge 
or  conquest,  and  that  their  annihilation  or 
enslavement  is  not  among  the  ends  which 
we  contemplate. 

An  admirable  opportunity  to  give  this 
humane  and  prudent  assurance  was  offered 
by  the  Pope's  proposal  of  a  Peace  Confer- 
ence (August,  1917).  President  Wilson,  with 
characteristic  acuteness  and  candor,  made 
good  use  of  this  opportunity.  While  declin- 
ing the  proposal  clearly  and  firmly,  as  im- 

[236] 


PAX  HUMANA 

possible  under  the  present  conditions,  he 
added  the  following  statement  of  the  peace 
purposes  of  the  United  States — a  statement 
which  approaches  a  definition  by  the  proc- 
ess of  exclusion: 

"Punitive  damages,  the  dismemberment 
of  empires,  the  establishment  of  selfish  and 
exclusive  economic  leagues,  we  deem  inex- 
pedient, and  in  the  end  worse  than  futile, 
no  proper  basis  for  a  peace  of  any  kind, 
least  of  all  for  an  enduring  peace,  that 
must  be  based  upon  justice  and  fairness 
and  the  common  rights  of  mankind." 
(President  Wilson's  Note  to  His  Holiness 
the  Pope,  August  27,  1917.) 

Thus  far  (and  in  my  judgment  no  farther) 
we  may  go  in  an  indirect,  third-personal 
discussion  of  the  terms  of  peace  with  our 
enemy. 

2.  On  the  other  hand,  a  full  discussion  of 
the  terms  of  peace  with  our  friends,  the 
allied  nations,  will  be  most  profitable — 
indeed,  it  is  absolutely  necessary. 

The   sooner   it   comes — the   more   frank, 

[237] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

thorough,  and  confidential  it  is — the  bet- 
ter! 

The  Allies,  as  President  Wilson  said  in  the 
address  already  quoted  (January  22,  1917), 
have  stated  their  terms  of  peace  "with 
sufficient  definiteness  to  imply  details." 

These  terms  have  been  summed  up  again 
and  again  in  three  general  words: 

RESTITUTION, 

REPARATION, 

GUARANTEES  FOR  THE  FUTURE. 

It  is  for  us  to  discuss  the  details  which 
are  implied  in  these  terms,  not  with  our 
enemy,  but  with  our  friends  who  have 
borne  the  brunt  of  this  German  war  against 
peace. 

Nothing  which  would  make  their  sacri- 
fice vain  could  ever  satisfy  the  heart  and 
conscience  of  the  United  States. 

We  cannot  honorably  accept  a  peace 
which  would  leave  Belgium,  Luxembourg, 
Servia,  Montenegro,  Roumania  crushed  and 
helpless  in  the  hands  of  their  captors. 

[238] 


PAX  HUMANA 

We  cannot  honorably  accept  a  peace 
which  would  leave  our  sister-republic 
France  hopelessly  exposed  to  the  same 
kind  of  an  assault  which  Germany  made 
upon  her  in  1870  and  in  1914. 

We  cannot  honorably  accept  a  peace 
which  would  leave  Great  Britain  crippled 
and  powerless  to  work  with  us  in  the  main- 
tenance of  the  freedom  of  the  sea. 

We  cannot  honorably  accept  a  peace 
which  would  leave  the  Italian  demand  for 
unity  unsatisfied,  and  the  new  Russian 
Republic  helpless  before  its  foes. 

Such,  it  seems  to  me,  are  the  principles 
which  must  guide  and  govern  us  in  the 
coming  conference  with  our  friends  about 
the  terms  of  peace. 

In  regard  to  the  right  of  the  peoples  of 
the  world,  small  or  great,  to  determine 
their  own  form  of  government  and  their 
own  action,  we  are  fully  committed.  This 
principle  is  fundamental  to  our  existence 
as  a  nation.  President  Wilson  has  reaffirmed 
it  again  and  again,  never  more  clearly  or 
[  239  ] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

significantly  than  in  his  address  to  the 
Senate  on  January  22,  1917. 

"And  there  is  a  deeper  thing  involved 
than  even  equaUty  of  rights  among  organ- 
ized nations.  No  peace  can  last  which  does 
not  recognize  and  accept  the  principle  that 
governments  derive  all  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed,  and  that 
no  right  anywhere  exists  to  hand  people 
about  from  sovereignty  to  sovereignty  as  if 
they  were  property. 

"I  take  it  for  granted,  for  instance,  if  I 
may  venture  upon  a  single  example,  that 
statesmen  everywhere  are  agreed  that  there 
should  be  a  united,  independent,  and  au- 
tonomous Poland,  and  that  henceforth 
inviolable  security  of  life,  of  worship,  and 
of  industrial  and  social  development  should 
be  guaranteed  to  all  peoples  who  have 
lived  hitherto  under  the  power  of  govern- 
ments devoted  to  a  faith  and  purpose  hos- 
tile to  their  own." 

This  "example"  must  be  interpreted  in 
its   full   bearing   upon    all    the    questions 

[240] 


\  PAX  HUMANA 

which  are  likely  to  come  up  in  the  coafer- 
ence  in  regard  to  the  terms  of  peace. 

There  is  one  more  fixed  point  in  the  terms 
of  a  peace  which  the  United  States  and  the 
AlUes  can  accept  with  honor.  That  is  the 
formation,  after  this  war  is  ended,  of  a 
compact,  an  alliance,  a  league,  a  imion — 
call  it  what  you  will — of  free  democratic 
nations,  pledged  to  use  their  combined 
forces,  diplomatic,  economic,  and  military, 
against  the  beginning  of  war  by  any  nation 
which  has  not  previously  submitted  its 
cause  to  international  inquiry,  conciliation, 
arbitration,  or  judicial  hearing. 

Here,  again,  experience  enables  me  to 
throw  a  little  new  Hght  upon  the  situation. 
In  November,  1914,  on  my  way  home  to 
America  for  surgical  treatment,  I  had  the 
privilege  of  conveying  a  personal,  unoffi- 
cial message  to  Washington  from  the 
British  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  Sir 
Edward  (now  Viscount)  Grey.  Remember, 
at  this  time  America  was  neutral,  and  tke 

[241] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

"League  to  Enforce  Peace"  had  not  been 
formed. 

This  was  the  substance  of  the  message: 
"The  presence  and  influence  of  America  in 
the  council  of  peace  after  the  war  will  be 
most  welcome  to  us  provided  we  can  be 
assured  of  two  things:  First,  that  America 
stands  for  the  restoration  of  all  that  Ger- 
many has  seized  in  Belgium  and  France. 
Second,  that  America  will  enter  and  sup- 
port, by  force  if  necessary,  a  league  of 
nations  pledged  to  resist  and  punish  any 
war  begun  without  previous  submission  of 
the  cause  to  international  investigation  and 
judgment." 

This  was  the  message  that  I  took  to 
Washington  in  1914.  Since  that  time  the 
"League  to  Enforce  Peace"  has  been  or- 
ganized in  America  (June  17,  1915).  In 
my  opinion  it  would  be  better  named  the 
"League  to  Defend  Peace."  But  the  name 
makes  Uttle  difference.  It  is  the  principle, 
the  idea,  that  counts. 

This  idea  has  been  publicly  approved  by 


PAX  HUMANA 

the  leading  spokesmen  of  all  the  allied  na- 
tions, and  notably  by  President  Wilson  in 
his  speech  at  the  League  banquet,  May 
27,  1916,  and  in  his  address  to  the  Senate, 
January  22,  1917,  in  which  he  said: 

"Mere  terms  of  peace  between  the  bellig- 
erents will  not  satisfy  even  the  belligerents 
themselves.  Mere  agreements  may  not  make 
peace  secure.  It  will  be  absolutely  necessary 
that  a  force  be  created  as  a  guarantor  of 
the  permanency  of  the  settlement  so  much 
greater  than  the  force  of  any  nation  now 
engaged  in  any  alliance  hitherto  formed  or 
projected  that  no  nation,  no  probable  com- 
bination of  nations,  could  face  or  with- 
stand it.  If  the  peace  presently  to  be  made 
is  to  endure  it  must  be  a  peace  made  secure 
by  the  organized  major  force  of  mankind." 

Consider  for  a  moment  what  such  an  or- 
ganization would  mean. 

It  would  mean,  first  of  all,  the  strongest 
possible  condemnation  of  the  attitude  and 
action  of  Germany  and  her  assistants  in 
plotting,  choosing,  beginning,  and  forcing 

[2431 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

the  present  war  upon  the  world.  It  is  pre- 
cisely because  she  disdained  and  refused 
to  submit  the  Austro-Servian  quarrel,  and 
her  own  secret  plans  and  purposes  to  in- 
vestigation, conference,  judicial  inquiry, 
that  her  blood-guiltiness  is  most  flagrant, 
and  her  criminal  assault  upon  the  world's 
peace  cries  to  Heaven  for  punishment. 

Moreover,  such  an  organization  of  free 
democratic  states  would  mean  a  practical 
step  toward  a  new  era  of  international  re- 
lations. It  would  amount,  in  eflFect,  to  what 
Premier  Ribot,  in  his  recent  address  at  the 
anniversary  of  the  battle  of  the  Mame, 
called  "a  league  of  common  defense."  It 
would  be  a  new  kind  of  treaty  of  alliance — 
open,  not  secret — made  by  peoples,  not  by 
monarchs — ^an  alliance  against  wars  of  ag- 
gression and  conquest — an  alliance  against 
all  wars  whose  beginners  are  unwilling  to 
submit  their  cause  to  the  common  judg- 
ment of  mankind.  Such  an  open  treaty  of 
defense  would  practically  condemn  and 
cancel  all  secret  treaties  for  offensive  war 

[244] 


PAX  HUMANA 

as  treasonable  conspiracies  against  the  com- 
monwealth of  the  world. 

But  would  the  organization  of  such  a 
league  of  nations  to  defend  peace  make 
war  henceforward  impossible  ? 

No  sane  man,  who  knows  the  ignorance, 
the  imperfection,  the  passionate  frailty  ©f 
human  nature  entertains  such  a  wild  dream 
or  makes  such  an  extravagant  claim. 

All  that  the  league  can  hope  to  do  is  t« 
make  an  aggressive  war,  such  as  Germany 
thrust  upon  the  world  in  1914,  more  dijji- 
cult  and  more  dangerous.  All  that  it  pur- 
poses is  to  set  up  a  new  safeguard  of  peace, 
based  upon  justice,  and  supported  by  tke 
common  faith,  the  collective  force,  and  the 
mutual  trust  of  democratic  peoples. 

That  is  one  of  the  things — ^yes,  I  think 
it  is  the  most  important  thing — ^for  which 
we  are  now  fighting  with  the  AlHes  against 
Germany  and  her  assistants: 

PEACE  WITH  POWER. 

[245] 


FIGHTING  FOR  PEACE 

These  pages  have  been  written  as  a  vol- 
untary contribution  to  the  cause  of  our 
-country  in  this  righteous  war  against  war. 
I  should  have  been  happier  if  my  active 
service  at  the  front  could  have  been  ac- 
cepted. But  since  my  age  made  that  im- 
possible I  have  tried,  and  shall  go  on  try- 
ing, to  do  what  I  can  in  other  ways  to  help 
our  fight  for  real  peace. 

I  close  this  bit  of  work  with  the  noble 

lines  of  Tennyson: 

/ 

"I  would  that  wars  should  cease, 
I  would  the  globe  from  end  to  end 

Might  sow  and  reap  in  peace, 
And  some  new  Spirit  o'erbear  the  old. 

Or  Trade  refrain  the  Powers 
From  war  with  kindly  links  of  gold. 

Or  Love  with  wreaths  of  flowers. 
Slav,  Teuton,  Kelt,  I  count  them  all 

My  friends  and  brother  souls, 
With  all  the  peoples,  great  and  small. 

That  wheel  between  the  poles. 
But  since  our  mortal  shadow,  HI, 

To  waste  this  earth  began — 
Perchance  from  some  abuse  of  Will 

In  worlds  before  the  man 

[346] 


PAX  HUMANA 

Involving  ours — ^he  needs  must  fight 

To  make  true  peace  his  own, 
He  needs  must  combat  might  with  might. 

Or  Might  would  rule  alone." 


I«47] 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 

COLLEGE  LIBRARY 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


^f6 


Tf^ 


Book  Slip-26m-9.'60CB2«86B4)4280 


UCLA-Coll«fl«  Library 

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005  767  308  9 


College 
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A    001  002  169     9 


